Is 2GB really all it takes now to be considered a “top 5″ iPhone data user by AT&T and have your data throttled down?

AT&T now seems to be throttling iPhone users on grandfathered, unlimited data plans when they hit a paltry 2GB of data usage. We all know AT&T has been threatening to throttle iPhone users on unlimited data plans for quite some time now. AT&T announced data throttling last August and started implementing it last October. Since then we’ve heard from some of our readers that they were getting throttled down to 2G EDGE speeds. And it seems to be getting even more egregious.

As a rational person — and long time customer — I had a hard time believing it. I’ve been using anywhere from 4 to 8 gigabytes a month since October and never received any warning from AT&T. In fact, I told everyone in our AT&T forums that I had not yet received the infamous text message from AT&T, accusing me of being a “top 5%” data users.

Until yesterday.

Smartphone customers with unlimited data plans may experience reduced speeds once their usage in a billing cycle reaches the level that puts them among the top 5 percent of heaviest data users. These customers can still use unlimited data and their speeds will be restored with the start of the next billing cycle. We’re writing because you are in the top 5 percent of heaviest data users for this billing cycle.

It came in just as I approached 2GB. That’s what apparently qualifies as a “top 5%” here in Chicago. 2GB. Two days before the end of my billing cycle.

I immediately called AT&T and asked them — 3 of them over the course of several hours — two simple questions: Why, all of a sudden, after previous months of heavy use, did I receive this message and why, when I am paying for “unlimited” data am I being crippled just at two gigabytes?

They had no answers for me.

So I began to think about it some more and realized the previous few months I was using my unlocked Galaxy Nexus. Did that have anything to do with flying under the radar? Or did I simply switch back to my iPhone 4S around the time AT&T decided to take these new, overly aggressive tactics?

Or is there simply no consistency or rationality with how AT&T is going about their data throttling? Do some people, depending on the area and month, get away with 5 to 6 gigabytes with no issues while some are getting nailed at 2 gigabytes? Is 2 gigabytes the new magic number based on all of the complaints in our forums and responses that I received on Twitter?

Whatever the case may be, it sure seems like AT&T is putting the screws to unlimited iPhone data users, trying to push us into giving up our grandfathered plans and pressure us into taking one of their new, limited, tiered plans instead.

And that sucks, plain and simple.

AT&T offered a service, we signed up for it, we paid them for it, and now they’re reneging on the spirit if not the letter of that service. They’re breaking faith with their customers.

Maybe they don’t want our particular type of user any more, maybe they’d rather we go somewhere else, but if they’re willing to do this to one group of users, they’d do it to any group of users, at any time. And that’s a terrible way to run a business.

Unlimited data plans were sold to iPhone users from day one. AT&T needs to stand by them. If they want us to switch to tiered plans, make those plans better. Offer free tethering, or make 4G LTE exclusive to those plans and wait for the iPhone 5 to drive demand for it. Make them so attractive we can’t wait to switch. Don’t do it by making our existing plans worse.

But AT&T has unlimited data users right where they want us, and they seem to be pulling out all of the stops to get rid of us.

Have you gotten throttled for using 2 gigabytes yet? Did it get you to switch to the new, tiered plans? And how does it make you feel about being an AT&T customer?

I have a very short attention span when it comes to accessories for my iPhone and iPad, and my most used accessories reflect that. To really keep my attention an accessory has to stand out from what I already own. If it looks like something I already have or doesn’t provide any additional features, I probably won’t give it a second look. Here are the ones I’ve found to be functional and versatile enough to keep around.

iSkin Aura for iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S

The first iSkin product I ever purchased was an iSkin Solo FX case for my iPhone 3GS. I’ve been impressed with their product lines ever since. Yes, they’re a bit more expensive than other cases on the market but I really think they’re a prime example of “you get what you pay for”.

The iSkin Aura adds minimal bulk to your iPhone, if any at all. The inside of the case is a thin rubber than won’t scratch or damage your device. The sides of the case are also rubber which provides a good grip. The back is a beautiful brushed metal that’s available in three different colors – grey, blue, and white.

I’ve been using the iSkin Aura for a good few months now and the quality is just what I’ve come to expect from iSkin. It’s worth keeping in mind that this case isn’t aimed for people who drop their phone frequently. It isn’t an Otterbox and doesn’t claim to be. If you don’t need heavy protection, you’ll love it. If you do need heavy protection, I wouldn’t recommend it.

• $34.95 – iMore Store link

Bamboo Stylus for iPad and iPad 2

I first learned of the Bamboo stylus when Leanna used it as her pick of the week. I’d tried several types of stylus’ and never found one that was a good weight and provided good accuracy while writing. Not to mention a lot of them have very cheap tips on them that will start to come apart or lose their shape after a while.

I find the Bamboo stylus to be the perfect combination of weight and design. It comes in several different colors and is priced very reasonably.

• $25.95 – $29.95 (depending on color choice) – Amazon link

Bose MIE2i in-ear headphones

I finally broke down several months ago and bought a “good” pair of headphones. The stock Apple ear buds always hurt my ears after an hour or so of use. My brother actually talked me into finally picking up a pair of Bose headphones. While they’re not new to 2011, they’re still a top seller when it comes to quality headphones (and they’re new to me).

Aside from the great sound quality, they’re extremely comfortable even when worn for long durations. They come with several different ear pieces to ensure the best fit individually. As you would expect, they’ve got a built in mic and clicker so you can use them not only for music but for phone calls and other tasks as well.

They’re a bit more expensive than other headphone choices but I’ve found the quality to be more than worth the price.

• $129.95 – Amazon link

Apple iPad 2 Smart Cover

The Smart Cover continues to be one of my favorite accessories for my iPad 2. The iPad 2 is much slimmer than its predecessor and I like to keep that form factor to a minimum. I don’t want a case that’s going to make it bulky.

I’ve found the Smart Cover to be versatile enough for my needs. I can prop it up in one way when I need to utilize the keyboard and another way when I want to sit back and watch a movie. It doesn’t provide the greatest protection considering it doesn’t protect the back at all but I’ve got that covered with an iSkin Solo Smart that compliments it perfectly without adding additional weight or bulk.

• $39.99 to $69.99 – Amazon link

iSkin Solo Smart for iPad 2

While I love my Smart Cover I still felt like the back was left wide open to scratches and potential damage. I wanted something I could use in addition to my Smart Cover.

Then I found the iSkin Solo Smart. Not only does it cover everything the Smart Cover doesn’t, including ports, it strengthens the Smart Cover’s connection. Along the left side you’ll find a small bracket that comes up and around the hinge of the Smart Cover. No matter how hard you pull, you’re Smart Cover won’t come unattached.

And if you don’t want to use a Smart Cover at all, the Solo Smart comes with an extra piece you can put inside the bracket so nothing on the back or sides of your iPad 2 is exposed.

• $52.99 – iSkin Solo Smart for iPad 2

TiPb takes a look at the top 5 best iPhone and iPad apps to help you succeed with your New Year’s resolutions in fitness, finances, organization, dieting, and kicking a bad habit.

2012 is the year you’re going lose weight, get in shape, get your finances in order, quit smoking, and organize your life – and your iPhone and iPad apps are going to help you with your success! There are a plethora of apps out there to choose from, however, so we’ve gathered up a few of our favorites to help you with your New Year’s resolutions.

Weightbot

This Tapbots gem is an oldie, but a goodie. With Weightbot, you can set your weight goal, record your weight, view your BMI, and see your progress on a beautiful graph. The UI is gorgeous and true to Tapbots style and makes use of nice sounds and clicks as you navigate through the app. Tracking your weight is always a chore, but Weightbot will at least turn the actual act of entering your weight a pleasure. Whether you’re happy with with the numbers you’re entering or not – well, that’s up to you.

• $1.99 – App Store link

See also:

• P90X: $4.99 for iPhone – App Store link
• Nike Training Club: Free for iPhone – App Store link

SilverWiz Money

Money – you both love it and hate it. You love getting it; you love spending it, but you hate when it runs dry. This is the year to get your finances in order by setting budgets, tracking your spending, and make smart spending choices. SilverWiz Money is a great app to help in your endeavor.

With SilverWiz, you can see the status of all your accounts (checking, savings, credit cards, cash, etc) and log all of your expenses and credits. Set up reminders to get your bills paid on their due dates, and schedule automatic deposits and transfers. My favorite feature of SilverWiz Money, however, is that it can sync across multiple devices. So, if you share accounts with your spouse, you can both log your spending on your own device, but it updates on all devices. There is also an iPad version, so when it’s time to analyze your reports, you can kick back and use the larger screen.

• $0.99 for iPhone – App Store link
• $4.99 for iPad – App Store link

See also:

• Bills ~ On your table: $3.99 for iPhone – App Store link
• iXpenseIt: $1.99 for iPhone – App Store link

Evernote

Organization – something we all vow to get better at every year. Evernote is here to help. From notes to ideas to snapshots to recordings, put it all into Evernote and watch as it instantly synchronizes from your iPhone to your Mac or Windows desktop. You can also mark specific notes as favorites and text within notes is searchable. Available an an in-app purchase, the Premium Features allow you to add, sync, access, and share files (PDF, Word, Excel, PPT, and more). Get organized, today!

• Free – App Store link

See also:

• Day One (Journal/Diary): $1.99 for iPhone and iPad – App Store link
• Todo:
  • $4.99 for iPhone – App Store link
  • $4.99 for iPad – App Store link

Weight Watchers Mobile

I’m convinced that the Calendar was intentionally created so that the New Year immediately followed a slew of Holidays that make us eat too much food, drink too much booze, and make us fat. If we didn’t have the New Year to motivate us to loose the 20 pounds we gained in less than 2 months, we’d have an even bigger obesity problem. We’ve already taken a look at an app to track our weight loss, but we’re not going to be happy with those numbers without some action – the most effective being a diet change.

Weight Watchers Mobile will provide you with the latest recipes, health news, exercise info, and more. It’s also compatible with Weight Watcher’s PointsPlus program so that you can keep track while on the go. A subscription to Weight Watchers Online will give you over 31,000 food options, meals and recipes and let you see your daily remaining PointsPlus values with notifications.

• Free – App Store link

See also:

• Lose It! Free for iPhone – App Store link
• Epicurious Recipes & Shopping List: Free for iPhone and iPad – App Store link

My Stop Smoking Coach with Allen Carr

Smoking is bad – you know this, but every attempt to quit has ended with you giving up. But this year, you’ll have My Stop Smoking Coach with Allen Carr in your pocket to aid you in your success. The quitting process is never exciting, but this app will add a little fun to your journey with 14 innovative games designed to help you remove all illusions created by the nicotine addiction. It’s not all fun an games, though; your personal coach will give you personalized advices and tips to help you kick your bad habit once and for all.

• $2.99 – App Store link

See also:

• Quitter: Free for iPhone – App Store link
• LIVESTRONG MyQuit Coach: Free for iPhone – App Store link

Your favorite New Year’s Resolution apps?

So there you have them, our top 5 best New Year’s resolution apps for iPhone and iPad. Be sure to check out our other Top 5 picks, our Picks of the Week, and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

Narrowing down the list of my most used apps is a huge undertaking! There are apps that I may use intensively for long periods of time, then not use so much at all. What I tried to do was identify the apps there were used on an almost daily basis, even if they were ones that I didn’t use for a long period of time each day. This is perhaps best exemplified by my first choice…

My-Cast Weather Radar

There are a long of weather apps out there (in fact, working on reviews of a couple more!) but My-Cast seems to have the perfect mix of ease of use, simplicity, and providing enough information. It has an “iPhone-like feel” to it, in it’s layout and presentation. It has intuitive controls to change between (for example) short of verbose forecast. With My-Cast weather, I find I can get a quick, easy to understand forecast, description of severe weather events, and even radar and map displays. I have other apps that I use for more detailed information when needed, but My-Cast is the app that I check on a daily basis to find out what it going on weather wise.

• $3.99 for iPhone – App Store link

Air Sharing

I use a lot of different online storage systems and email accounts. Air Sharing lets me manage them all together. I can see what it in dropbox, and then move it to Box.net. I can check an attachment I have on my exchange email account, and open it up and read it. The versatility of the app is its strongest feature. No, I can edit documents, but I can print them with air print or email them from withing the app. Air Sharing is a great far-reaching document and storage management tool. (This was almost going to be Goodreader, but that requires a separate app for both the iPad and the iPhone, while Air Sharing is a universal binary).

• $2.99 for iPhone – App Store link
• $3.99 for iPad – App Store link
• $4.99 for iPhone and iPad – App Store link

Hanging with Friends

I wanted to choose a game to put in here. I mostly play casual games (think Angry Birds, Where’s my Water, Tower Defense, Temple Run, Doodle God, Fruit Ninja, etc), many of which I may get into a “groove” and play for days on end. I ended up choosing Hanging with Friend, by the makers of Words with Friends. Hanging with Friends is a Hangman style game that you play…well…with friends! While I also play Words with Friends, I have found that Hanging with Friends is probably the casual game I check on a regular basis – seeing if my opponent guessed my word, or trying to guess a word myself. While I enjoy Words with Friends, I find that Hanging with Friends is a little more low key – I don’t spend as much time trying to figure out the perfect word to play. It’s a great and fun way to play a word game that might be a little less stressful (for me at least!)

• $1.99 for iPhone – App Store link

MLB.com At Bat 11

I have both the iPhone and the iPad version on the app, and during the baseball season I was using these on a daily basis. As a huge baseball fan, I loved the local radio broadcast feature, and following the game live with Gameday was almost as good as watching it on TV. Even in the off season, I have found that the app gets checked on a regular basis – for news, transaction updates, and anything that might be going on during the Hot Stove season. Unfortunately you have to purchase the app each season, AND they don’t make a universal binary, but for any baseball fan it is a must have. And the good news is that each year it has been released, it has had new and improved features, so I hope to see even more improvements in 2012!

• $0.99 for iPhone – App Store link
• $0.99 for iPad – App Store link

Facebook

Yes, I use Twitter (and Tweetbot is my go-to app). Yes, I use Google+, and use the app for that. But Facebook is the “social network” that I probably check, and make updates too, most frequently. As such, the Facebook app for the iPhone is the app that gets the most use. And now with the Facebook app for the iPad available, I will probably start using that one as well. This may change in 2012, I may start using Twitter or Google+ more, but for now, for me, Facebook is still the king (although I do sometime use Quick Status to update both my Twitter and Facebook accounts at the same time!).

• Free for iPhone and iPad – App Store link

It has taken me so long to write up my most used apps of 2011 because – how was I supposed to choose just five apps? However, I’ve managed to narrow it down. My first home screen page is dedicated to my most used apps. This list isn’t in any particular, so here we go!

1Password

I live and breathe this app 24/7. I can’t live without it. My entire life is stored within it. It’s way more than a password manager to me. 1Password has the best customer support and it’s a well designed, easy to use app.

• $14.99 for iPhone and iPad – iTunes link
• $9.99 for iPhone – App Store link
• $9.99 for iPad – App Store link

Echofon Pro for Twitter

I love Twitter but trying to keep up with my timeline was killing me. It wasn’t bad when I was only using Twitter via my iPhone. Then I added my iMac to the mix and it got a tad bit more complicated. And, well, I was completely done for once I got an iPad. Echofon is my Twitter app of choice. Echofon had tweet syncing long before other apps and Tweet Marker. Tweet syncing is my number one priority when it comes to any Twitter client. But that’s not the only thing I love about Echofon. It’s a universal app and it’s inline photo/video preview is topnotch! It’s not the prettiest Twitter app but it is one of the most function. I’ll take function over pretty any day of the week. The Mac app is full of awesome too.

• $4.99 for iPhone and iPad – App Store link

Downcast

Oh how I love this app! This is app is AMAZING! It doesn’t get the credit it deserves either. This app does so much. You can customize it as little or as much as you like because it has a TON of features and settings. I’m pretty hardcore when it comes to my podcasts because I’m subscribed to so many. I like to be as efficient as possible so I love how I have control over every feed individually. This app is universal and the iCloud syncing rocks.

• $1.99 for iPhone and iPad – App Store link

iBooks

I still adore this app. The latest update has fixed everything I didn’t like when I made iBooks my Pick of the Week many months ago. ‘Nuff said!

• Free for iPhone and iPad – App Store link

Reeder

What can I say about this app that hasn’t already been said by Rene, Ally, Andrew, and Chris? So I’ll just say, “Ditto” but I’ll also say the Mac version rocks too.

• $2.99 for iPhone – App Store link
• $4.99 for iPad – App Store link

My most used apps of 2011 include an endless list of Twitter apps, ‘video streaming apps’, and of course, the default apps like Safari, Mail, Messages and YouTube. When I do download apps from the App Store, I immediately store them into folders: “Games, Utilities, Utilities 2″. However, there are a select few apps that live outside of folders, because I use them so often. Here are the top 5 that I’ve used this year.

Twittelator Neue

I’ve used a few Twitter apps this year. I used Tweetbot, TweetTime, Tweetings, but most of the time I ended up reverting back to the official Twitter app, but when Twitter updated their iPhone app to #dickapp, I went on a search for another Twitter client. That’s when I found Twittelator Neue. Its gorgeous and was made for iOS5. Its got most of the features you’d expect from a Twitter app and is definitely the app that I will be using in the foreseeable future. So what if it doesn’t have push support yet? It’s so pretty!

$1.99 – App Store Link

BBC iPlayer

The iPlayer app is on both the iPhone and the iPad, however I love them both for different reasons. The iPad version is my No.1 source for my BBC content. Its easy to navigate and lets you save a list of favourites, so I never miss a show. Its so convenient for watching my favourite BBC shows in bed before I go to sleep. The iPhone version wins me over because it has 3G support and live channels, so I can watch TV, while I’m out and on the go.

FREE – App Store Link

Tiny Tower

Tiny Tower is an annoyingly addictive game. I’m constantly checking my tower and improving it. It’s almost become part of my everyday routine. ‘Wake Up, Have Breakfast, Play Tiny Tower’. It’s an endless game, as there is no limit to how tall your tower can go, so I’ll be playing this for many more years to come.

FREE – App Store Link

Wikipanion

When I need to look something up on wikipedia, I always use Wikipanion, not just because it’s a full featured, easy to navigate wikipedia app, but because it has multiple wikia support, which is great for viewing topic-specific wikis as well as the standard wikipedia.

FREE – App Store Link

Checkbook HD

I like keeping a close eye on my money, however, My bank doesn’t have an app (yes, I should leave them.). Checkbook HD, allows me to keep a close eye on all my spendings offline, so I can see at a glance how much money I have at any given time. I’ve got multiple accounts, and the app adds up all my money to tell me how much I have altogether. Time to save for next Christmas.

$0.99 – App Store Link

I tend to go through phases where I can continually change the apps I have on my home page, and the apps I use the most. There are however five apps that will never leave their prime positions. These are my most-used apps, the ones I can’t function without, the ones I use everyday, over and over again.

Tweetbot

I love Twitter, it has opened up a whole new world for me, I have friends on Twitter from all over the planet that share my interests. Tweetbot is in my opinion the most elegant and user friendly of all the Twitter apps available on the App Store. Every time I open it, it makes me smile, the subtle sound effects and smooth sliding animations are really well done. It may lack a few features compared with other apps but I would rather give them up just to use this app, it is that good!

$2.99 –  App Store link

HulloMail

One of the frustrations of moving your iPhone from the O2 network in the UK, is that it is currently the only network to support Visual Voicemail. Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange and 3 all skipped this really nice feature. So what are your options? Well HulloMail does a really good job of filling the gap. It is basically Visual Voicemail with loads more additional features.

The HulloMail iPhone app offers an easy way to manage your voicemails visually, send, receive and share voicemails, instant voice messaging to mobile and email, no matter which operator you use. There are two versions of HulloMail, a free version which is ad supported and a paid version which costs $8.99 a year via in-app subscription. The subscription version gives you some extra features like an ad-free service for a year, individual greetings, longer voicemails of up to 5 minutes and priority access to more features in the coming months.

If your network does not support visual voicemail, give HulloMail a try, it is an excellent voicemail management tool.

• Free –  App Store link

Reeder

Being a news editor for TiPb means I have to keep on top of the news at all times. I use Google Reader on my notebook but when I am mobile, I use Reeder. It is super clean, super fast and really easy to use. Of course it syncs with Google Reader too so I never have to read anything twice. I use it on my iPhone 4S as well as  Reeder for iPad on my iPad 2. Both work equally well with speed being the key ingredient.

• $4.99 – iPad App Store Link
• $2.99 – iPhone App Store Link

Air Video

Air Video is a fantastic app that can transcode and stream video content from your Windows PC or Mac straight to your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. It now includes AirPlay support so you can beam all your content onto the big screen too.

Your Windows PC or Mac needs a small piece of software installed to communicate with your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad but once setup you can stream native iOS video content (MP4 and M4V) instantly to your device (rather than having to sync it over first via iTunes). Air Video will also convert non-supported video formats (AVI, MKV, etc) and either store them for later viewing or stream them on the fly so you can watch now rather than having to wait.

Air Video is an excellent app that gives me instant access to over 2TB of media on my networked drives. There are two versions, a free version which limits the number of displayed items in each folder and the paid version which removes those limits. Both versions are universal apps; so work great on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

• Free – App Store Link
• $2.99 – App Store Link

LiveScore

LiveScore is a fantastic free app that provides real time scores from many sporting events around the world; with a particular emphasis on soccer scores. Every match in the UK league is covered along with most other countries. With this app you will know about goals, yellow cards, red cards, substitutions, you name it, seconds after they happen.

The application comes directly from LiveScore Ltd., the inventors of real-time delivery of live sport data and owners of the no.1 ranked football / soccer web site globally. No country restrictions either,  fast access to scores and it is a universal binary too.

• Free –  App Store link

Some of my most-used apps have managed to stay the same year after year, but app updates and new contenders are always finding their way onto my device. While there are tons of great apps in the App Store, these are the apps that currently earn a place on the homescreen of my iPhone or iPad, or even both.

BiteSMS

I can not even express how great of an app BiteSMS is. While iOS 5 made several much needed improvements to the messaging app, I still need my quick reply. I desperately miss this functionality on my iPhone 4S and can’t wait for a jailbreak for A5 devices to be released so I can have it back. Until then I’ll have to enjoy using it on my iPod touch.

• $9.99 – Cydia Search Link

SBSettings

SBSettings is by far one of the most useful jailbreak tweaks ever created. It’s made my list year after year ever since its conception. I realize how much I miss it every single time I have to launch the Settings app on my iPhone 4S just to change the brightness level on my phone or toggle off wi-fi. If you jailbreak and haven’t picked up SBSettings, what are you waiting for? It’s free.

• Free – Cydia Search Link

Reeder

Reeder has been one of my all time favorite apps on both my iPhone and iPad. While apps like Flipboard are great for casual reading, Reeder allows me to read when I want without missing anything. I can set up options for how many days worth of content I want to see when I load it and know I’m still up to date. More importantly, Reeder is a surprisingly beautiful client for one that provides so much functionality. Often times you see a great UI go bad when too many options are added. Reeder is a shining example of an exception to this rule.

• $4.99 – iPad App Store Link

• $2.99 – iPhone App Store Link

Google Currents

While Reeder is the app I’d turn to when I actually want to sit down and catch up on my news for the day, Currents is the app I turn to when I just want to view headlines or pick and choose what I want to read. It has one of the most beautiful interfaces I’ve ever seen in a news app and it really is a joy to browse through, especially from the iPad. I think Currents will give Flipboard a run for its money. I actually already prefer it due to blogs being able to customize how their content is presented.

• Free – App Store Link

1Password

1Password has a well-deserved spot on every single device or computer I own. Lets face its, most people are terrible at remembering passwords. We all know it isn’t safe to have the same password for everything but who can remember all those passwords? Enter 1Password. Not only does it remember all your passwords or generate impossible to guess random ones for you, it does it across all platforms seamlessly. I have 1Password installed on my iPhone, iPad 2, iPod touch, iMac, and MacBook Pro. Never again will I forget a password or have to worry about not having the one I need nearby. While you can purchase them separately for iPhone and iPad, I suggest picking up the Pro version to cover all your iOS devices. It’s currently on sale for the holidays for only $8.99, down from its normal price point of $14.99.

• $8.99 – App Store Link

Like Rene, my most-used apps of 2011 are probably the built in iPhone and iPad Safari browser, Mail app, and Reminders, Calendars, etc. via Siri. That’s just the nature of the job. But since I’m TiPb’s resident app editor, I also get to spend time with an incredible amount and array of App Store apps. Here are the ones I spent the most of my time with this year.

Starbucks

I love Starbucks and spend way too much money on $3 to $4 drinks. The Starbucks app further inhibits my addiction and has been one of my favorite apps since its release. Being able to reload my card with a touch of a button and pay for my drinks with a scan of my iPhone is almost too much awesomeness for me to handle.

• Free – App Store link

Tweetbot

There are many great Twitter applications out there, but Tweetbot always comes out on top as my favorite. I’m a huge fan the smart gestures like triple click to reply and swiping to the right to view conversations. I also thoroughly enjoy the sounds & animations that hold true to Tapbots’ style.

• $2.99 – App Store link

iMovie

I have a 16 months daughter whom I get gigabytes worth of video footage of every couple months. iMovie is such a great app for creating nicely edited movies to share on YouTube and ultimately on my blog. iMovie is by no means a fancy editor, but it’s a breeze to get quick, simple edits completed and runs fantastically on an iPhone 4S and iPad 2.

• $4.99 – App Store link

Instagram

Instagram is by far my favorite way to share photos. The filters are great, but I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite feature of Instagram – the social integration is. Instead of editing a photo and sharing it to the networks of my choice, Instagram has it’s own platform where I can share my photos and view other people’s photos and leave comments and ‘likes’. And because I still want to share my photos to Facebook and Twitter, it’s nice that I can do that at the same time with no extra effort.

• Free – App Store link

WordPress

I use WordPress for my blog and the WordPress app is perfect for blogging on the go. Often times I just want to throw up a quick photo of my daughter, and the WordPress app makes this super fast and easy. This year, WordPress finally added the functionality to choose pixel width/height of uploaded photos, and it was this feature that turned the WordPress app into one of my most-used apps.

• Free – App Store link

While jailbreaking already provides tons of functionality, there’s still room for improvement and expansion in 2012. Last year I did a list of jailbreak concepts Apple should implement and low and behold, they implemented quite a few of them. But that’s part of the game. Part of what spurs more innovation is creativity and pushing boundaries. And at the end of the day it’s really the user base that is the most useful when it comes to helping developers out. They can’t create it if they don’t know we want it. So this is our list of the top 5 things we’d like to see jailbreak accomplish in 2012.

A jailbreak for A5 devices

We already know pod2g is working on this. While we will most likely get one in 2012, I’m not excluding it as one of the biggest wants for many users. We just received an untethered jailbreak for A4 and older devices. Hopefully a jailbreak for the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S aren’t that far behind. While an untethered version would be epic win, I’d take a tethered version for starters.

Cydia updates

While Cydia is probably one of the most used apps on my iOS devices, it can become rather frustrating at times. Saurik made some updates to Cydia in 2011 but nothing to get too excited about. Cydia could use a facelift and some speed enhancements.

While it may not be at the top of saurik’s list right now, I know Cydia is frustrating for many users on a day to day basis. Not to mention the organization of packages is rather daunting for many new jailbreakers. They have no idea where to start or what apps they should be downloading. Sure, they can always come to TiPb but for those not familiar, how about adding a jailbreak starter pack in Cydia? I know several new users revert back to stock quickly out of confusion and frustration.

I’d like to see Cydia step up its game to show users what jailbreak is all about. It isn’t about pirating apps and installing illegal software at all. It’s about enhancing and customizing your experience.

More iPad compatible apps and tweaks

While there is support for jailbroken iPads, it’s very minimal. I’d really like to see that change. As of right now, I really can’t find a good reason to jailbreak my iPad. A lot of this could have to do with the lack of support for current iPad 2 users. Jailbreak developers may not want to put the time and effort into supporting the low number of jailbroken iPads.

Hopefully a jailbreak for A5 devices will create more interest in jailbreaking the iPad. Even though there are a few good reasons to jailbreak the iPad, I’d like to find a reason I can not live without. I’d like to have a reason or find a jailbreak application compelling enough to make me not want to live without my iPad being jailbroken.

If I’m missing out on some to die for jailbreak utilities for iPad, please let me know. I’ve yet to find them.

More support updates from developers

After iOS 4 was released, Cydia was plagued with tons of apps and utilities that were never updated to support it. Even though jailbreak tool after jailbreak tool was released supporting almost every device on the market, tools were left to collect dust. Some of them were actually very useful utilities that I really missed using after updating. Things like changing keyboard styles were little tweaks that were left untouched for months.

Some developers are extremely good about updating their tools. Others are not. Where that happens, I’d really like to see new jailbreak developers step up and come out with new solutions. Heck, just improve upon someone else’s idea. It seemed as if the jailbreak community was left with a ton of tools that were left in limbo. A package may work, it may not, it may just crash your springboard. I’d like to see less of this.

Maybe this is something that needs to come bundled with updates to Cydia. This is another reason jailbreak may be off-putting to some new users. They download tweaks that aren’t compatible with their devices and when it isn’t stable, they restore and never give jailbreak another chance. We need to avoid experiences like this as developers.

A more unified jailbreak process

This one may be asking a bit too much but heck, I’ll throw it out there. While redsn0w and tools like it are pretty user friendly to begin with, there are tons of tools out there and that’s confusing to new users. What tool do they use? Is one not compatible with their device? Programs like ipswDownloader aim to make it easier for beginners, but a lot of beginners won’t know what an IPSW is let alone what the tool does, where to find it, or know why they need it.

If jailbreak developers could come together to make a great tool that accommodates all users, I think the jailbreak community would see a great benefit and many more users. I see tons of people in my office every day that bricked their device or jailbroke it with an incorrect tool. I also see people that searched and researched jailbreak online, became overwhelmed, and would rather come and pay me to do it correctly than mess something up themselves. I know there are tons of other users out there that are put off by the overwhelming amount of information and tools out there. Working together to find a way to make the process more streamlined would be time spent that would pay off in the long run.

Bottom line

I think my overall outlook on jailbreak is this – people buy Apple devices because of the experience and the ease of use. If jailbreak complicates things too much, they’ll stray away. Of course there will always be power users and ninjas that will put in the time to make it work. But the bottom line is that most iOS users just want their device to work and work well. If jailbreak developers can find ways to make the process and overall experience better, I think they’d see a lot more users willing to give it a try or a second runaround.

What do you guys want to see jailbreak developers aiming for in the coming year? Let us know!

Itching to purchase a new electronic gadget or accessory and wish you could shop from the comfort of your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad? Whether you’re looking to buy a bigger screen TV, some speakers, or even a brand new iPad, there are a ton of apps for just exactly that. Here are some of our favorites.

Amazon Mobile

Everyone who is familiar with online shopping knows that Amazon is one of the primary for just about anything, including electronics. With Amazon Mobile, you can shop for your latest gadget with ease from your iPhone or iPad. Additionally, you can shop for a friend or family member’s a wish list or add items to your own.

Out and about and wish to compare the price of an item in a retail store with Amazon? Scan the barcode with Amazon Mobile to instantly search for the item. Once you place your order, you can also track its status in anticipation for its arrival.

• Free – App Store link

Apple Store

The Apple Store, online or retail, should be your first stop when shopping for Apple products, and the Apple Store app should be your first tap when shopping from your iPhone. In addition to online shopping, you can reserve items for in-store pickup, track your orders, and schedule appointments at the Genius Bar.

While visiting an Apple Store location, you can even purchase accessories on your own with EasyPay, request help, check in for reservations, and meet up with a Specialist at the store. Unfortunately, the Apple Store app is not a universal app, so there’s no optimized version for the iPad. (Get on that, Apple!)

• Free – App Store link

Best Buy

If you have a Best Buy nearby, I’m sure it’s one of your primary locations for picking up anything related to electronics. With the Best Buy app, you can do your shopping from the comfort of your iPhone. Now, if you need an HDMI cable for your Apple TV, you may be wondering why you’d want to shop for that with an app and wait for shipping when you can just drive a few miles down the road and pick it up now. Well, with the Best Buy app, you can verify that your local store has the item in stock, purchase it ahead of time, then head into the store and pick it up in person. You can also look up the Best Buy trade-in value for your Wii, Xbox, Sony and other video games. Shop smarter, not harder.

• Free – App Store link

Ebay

With the eBay apps for iPhone and iPad, you can can bring the word’s largest marketplace with you wherever you go. And as all eBay shoppers know, this can be an essential asset to eBay shopping because you will receive instant alerts when you are outbid or when auctions are ending. In addition to shopping with the eBay app, you can sell your own items and upload photos directly from your iPhone or iPad’s camera.

• Free for iPhone – App Store link
• Free for iPad – App Store link

Newegg Mobile

Looking to build a new PC or upgrade your iMac’s ram? Newegg is likely your first stop for computer hardware or software purchases. With Newegg Mobile, you can shop from your iPhone – read reviews, view photos, and make purchases. You can also keep up with the latest deals, even when out and about.

• Free – App Store link

Your favorite electronics catalog?

So there you have them, our top 5 best electronics shopping apps for iPhone and iPad. Be sure to check out our other Top 5 picks, our Picks of the Week, and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

Breaking down the best, most must-have first-person shooter (FPS) games to blast and brawl your way through on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad

First person shooters, affectionally initialized as FPS, are some of the most popular games on any platform and iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad are no exception. While control was, and remains and issue — glass multitouch doesn’t provide the same options as a PC keyboard or dedicated gamepad — the graphics, animation, ambiance, music, and intimacy of iOS makes for an incredibly exhilarating experience. From World Wars to space hulks, soldiers to monsters to the walking dead, hand-to-knife combat to blasters, ballistics, and beam weapons there are a plethora of choices available to the hardcore FPS gamer. Here are some of our favorites.

Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation

The latest in a series of games so good you can scarcely believe they’re on your phone, Modern Combat 3 has 13 missions, excellent gameplay, and a truly immersive experience. While an iPhone can never replace a full-on PC, Xbox 360, or Playstation 3 console shooter with all the bells, buttons, and whistles, the gap is definitely closing. And this one you can carry around in your pocket. Universal app – works on both iPhone and iPad.

• $6.99 – App Store link

Dead Space

If you couldn’t guess from the title it’s a space survival/horror shooter with absolutely gorgeous graphics and even better sound and atmosphere. The mood is just perfect and transitions from casual, almost monotonous getting-to-know-the-controls early missions to OMFG-what’s-eating-my-face action with heart-stopping abruptness. Dead Space isn’t on rails; you walk where you want to walk, blast what you want to blast. You do have a guidance mechanism to show you the way, however, which minimizes the frustration of truly open environments.

• $6.99 – iPhone App Store link
• $9.99 – iPad App Store link

N.O.V.A. 2

N.O.V.A was the closest thing to getting HALO on the iPhone and iPad, and N.O.V.A 2 takes all that was great about the original and shoots it into orbit and ads even better graphics, creatures, vehicles, maps, and game play. The visual are simply stunning, the controls about as good as you can expect from multitouch, and the action frenetic. Career mode, multiplayer, leader boards — hawt.

• $6.99 – iPhone App Store link
• $6.99 – iPad App Store

RAGE HD

From the mind of the legendary John Carmack and the labs of ID Software, RAGE HD is a post-apolocalyptic world-scorcher of an FPS. On the down side, it’s on rails so you can’t move about freely. On the plus side, it’s got gruesomely gorgeous graphics, Game Center support, crazy extras like Mirror Mode, and is a great way to raise some hell and work out some aggression on your iPhone or iPad. Universal app — works on both iPhone and iPad

• $1.99 – App Store link

Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies

It’s CoD, it’s zombies, what more really needs be said? Following up on the original Call of Duty: Zombies, this all new, all better sequel pits you and up to three of your friends against the walking dead with an all new interface, in-game chat, and more achievements than you can toss a grenade at. Also includes a top-down arcade bonus. Universal app — works on both iPhone and iPad

• $6.99 App Store link

Your top FPS shooter?

So there you have them, our top 5 best FPS games for iPhone and iPad. Be sure to check out our other Top 5 picks, our Picks of the Week, and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

There will no doubt be a flood of them soon but for right now, right this minute, here are a list of our favorites, the ones we think are the best — TiPb’s Top 5 Jailbreak apps and tweaks that will help you get the most out of iOS 5!

SBSettings

SBSettings has not only been around forever, it has remained one of the most useful jailbreak utilities available. It allows you to add quick toggles for commonly used features such as brightness, 3G, airplane mode, bluetooth, and more. While SBSettings comes with a lot of the more commonly used toggles built in you can download even more from Cydia. You can also download themes to change the look of SBSettings as well.

Now with iOS 5 compatibility it has never been easier to access quick gestures and manage your device. Simply enable SBSettings in Notification Center and it’s right there whenever you need it.

Free – Cydia Link

Activator

This is yet another utility that’s been around almost as long as iOS has. But for most jailbreakers this is a tweak you’ll definitely want to have. You’ll probably end up using it anyways whether you realize it or not. Some apps even require that you install Activator in order to use them.

The whole point of Activator is to make it easier to get to things you use most frequently. If you send a lot of texts you may want a gesture that allows you to bring up a BiteSMS quick compose screen. Activator allows you to do this by simply assigning certain gestures to specific applications. Tons of jailbreak applications and utilities have built-in support for Activator.

If there is ever a period of time I have to suffer with a stock iPhone I still find myself trying to open things with gestures only to frown when it doesn’t work. I still find myself wondering why shortcut gestures have not been more heavily implemented into iOS considering the wide adoption rate of Activator among the jailbreak community.

Free – Cydia Link

Dreamboard

While I think iOS has the cleanest and slickest interface out of any smartphone on the current market I still get bored from time to time and feel the need to switch it up. While a lot of long time jailbreakers have used tools like Summerboard and more recently Winterboard, the jailbreak scene just gets better and better. While Dreamboard is a newer app in its early stages it shows a lot of promise.

The ability to customize and create themes comes built into the app. You can replace and swap out icons and customize until your heart’s content. For jailbreakers who are rather picky about themes and want the ability to have more control over “the little things”, Dreamboard may be just what you’re looking for. I’m sure we’ll start to see Dreamboard extensions and downloadable themes cropping up in Cydia pretty quickly. At the time of writing this I already see over 15 themes available for Dreamboard. This is definitely a jailbreak utility to keep your eye on.

Free – Cydia Link

IntelliScreenX

YouTube Link

While I’ve always been a huge fan of LockInfo by David Ashman I have to admit that the guys over at Intelliborn really stepped up to the plate with their new version of IntelliScreen for iOS 5.

The tight integration with the already built-in Notification Center is really what makes this version stand out. You can just tell that a lot of thought and energy went into the project. While Notification Center is good, IntelliScreenX makes it great. It adds the functionality that Apple left out. Everything from accessing all your information from the lock screen to having a top shelf feature for toggles has been re-worked from the ground up. Intelliborn is definitely giving apps like LockInfo a lot to live up to with their next release.

The down side is as of writing this it has not yet been released. Until then you can check out the video above to see it in action. This is one I keep checking on and can’t wait to try out for myself. A few other sites have been able to get a early hands-on with it and have walked away quite impressed. It should be available this Thursday or Friday to the public. We’ll add a link and update when it’s readily available for download. Let us know if you see it up!

Free trial, $9.99 – Will add link when publicly available

BiteSMS

I’ve tried several messaging replacement apps but I always find myself coming back to Bite. When it comes down to it, it just works. It gives me the control I want and then some. And the update for iOS 5 is no different.

This time it’s coming back around with a new face lift and even tighter integration to iOS. Not only will BiteSMS play nice with iOS 5 but it will also handles Apple’s new iMessage protocol. The app just feels a whole lot cleaner this time around. I also like that users are now given the option to natively re-skin the Bite icon to the default Messages icon and hide the stock icon.

The iOS 5 compatible version is still in beta but it’s public. In order to use it you’ll need to add the following repository in Cydia –

http://test-cydia.bitesms.com/

Just a reminder that since it is still in beta you should expect a few bugs here and there. I’ve been using it for a bit now and haven’t experienced too many issues outside of a crash here and there.

Free trial, $9.99 – Cydia Link

Your top Jailbreak app or tweak?

While this is our list of must have jailbreak apps we know you guys all have your own lists. Feel free to let us know of any cool jailbreak apps or utilities you’ve found as well. And if you’re thinking about jailbreaking but have some questions first make sure you check out our TiPb jailbreak forums for all the help you need and answers to many commonly asked questions.

iOS 5 brings a lot of great new features to iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad but more than that — it lets developers bring us even better apps and games! Whether it’s a great old app that’s been updated with amazing new functionality, or a brand new app that never would have been possible before, they now get access to everything from Documents in the Cloud to AirPlay Mirroring to Twitter integration to Newsstand, to persistent location and more.

There will no doubt be a flood of them soon but for right now, right this minute, here are a list of our favorites, the ones we think are the best — TiPb’s Top 5 apps that support awesome new iOS 5 features!

iWork Numbers, Pages, and Keynote (Documents in the Cloud)

Apple’s iWork productivity suite includes the Numbers spreadsheet, the Pages word processor, and the Keynote presentation maker. While not as powerful as Microsoft’s ubiquitous Office suite, for smaller jobs they can make for even more beautiful, better laid out documents. And now, Documents in the Cloud. It only makes sense that Apple is right out of the gate with iCloud support for their own apps, and that the support is pretty good. Any Numbers, Pages, or Keynote document that you start on your iPhone or iPad is stored up on iCloud and pushed back down to all your other devices, including — eventually — the iWork apps on the Mac.

There’s no file system, no file management. The idea is for you to simply open your apps and find your documents there waiting for you, up to date and ready for more. If editing on all your iOS and OS X devices is important for you, iWork is now a powerful, easy way to do it.

Note: iWork apps are universal, so you only have to buy once to use on all your iOS devices, including iPhone and iPad. However, each app needs to be bought separately, and the Mac versions need to be bought separately as well.

• Numbers – $9.99 App Store link
• Pages – $9.99 – [App Store link](mt=8 http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=xhXvKggNk&subid=&offerid=146261.1&type=10&tmpid=3909&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fpages%2Fid361309726%3Fmt%3D8)
• Keynote – $9.99 App Store link

Magazine and newspaper apps (Newsstand)

While many people seem to hate even the presence of Newsstand on their home screens, it actually manages to very neatly solve several problems previously associated with subscription media like magazines and newspapers. It’s really just a custom folder, and magazines and newspapers are still served up as apps, but Newsstand keeps them all in one place, updates automagically when new issues “come out”, and takes you to a subscription section of the App Store so you don’t have to wade through games and novelty apps to find your periodicals.

Those magazine and newspaper apps had to update for iOS 5 to support Newsstand, but many already have and many more will update shortly. If subscriptions are your thing, Newsstand, if not perfect, is certainly better.

Note: Some apps are universal, many aren’t. Check for the + symbol on a case-by-case basis.

• Variable – App Store link

Real Racing 2 and Real Racing 2 HD (AirPlay Mirroring)

FireMint is always at the cutting edge of iOS gaming and iOS 5 is no different. They’ve already updated Real Racing 2 for iPhone and Real Racing 2 HD for iPad to support the new AirPlay Mirroring feature. It lets you stream your iPhone 4S or iPad 2 interface — including any app or game — through an Apple TV to a big screen HDTV. FireMint takes it to a whole new level — they offer full on Party Play. What that means is you and up to 4 people total can each use an iPhone 4S or iPad 2 to race, multiplayer style, on the big screen. Not only is that a whole lot of fun — it’s a shot across the bow of every console in the casual gaming space.

Hopefully soon we’ll see all sorts of board games, shooters, and other great titles support to feature. Until then we’ll be busy playing Real Racing 2.

Note: It’s not a universal binary, so you’ll have to buy it separately for iPhone and iPad if you want it on both, but right now it’s on 40% sale so it’s as close to a no brainer as you can get.

• $2.99 on sale – iPhone App Store
• $3.99 on sale – iPad App Store

iQuick Tweet (Twitter Integration)

iOS 5 has built-in Twitter integration so you can rapidly tweet a photo, YouTube video, etc. iQuick Tweet smartly took that rapidity and made it the focus of a dedicated app. You launch, you type a Twitter status, you hit send, you’re done. It’s just that simple and it’s just that fast.

If you want to read timelines, search through @mentions, explore profiles, check trends, or do a lot of other stuff besides tweeting, there’s an embarrassment of full fledged Twitter clients on iOS, but if all you want to do is blast off a message, iQuick Tweet has you covered.

• $0.99 – iPhone App Store link

foursquare (Location)

For iOS 5 users, foursquare now offers the new Radar feature, with ability to alert you when your friends are near and doing something fun — even if your iPhone is in your pocket. This awesome — or terrifying — new feature means you don’t have to have your iPhone out and foursquare open all the time, in constant fear you might miss out on what’s happening around you. While it’s not as granular as Apple’s new Find my Friends app, if your goal is to know where the cool stuff is happening, foursquare Rader is a lot more powerful.

• Free – iPhone App Store

Bonus: Instapaper (Brightness and Dictionary)

Favored as the best way to devour web articles by geeks everywhere, Instapaper proves that it’s not just the big, flashy iOS 5 features that can make a difference — the little ones matter too. Support for the built-in dictionary and native brightness controls means downloading the app is faster, and reading your saved articles is more comfortable than ever. (The UI has also received an excellent overhaul.)

Note: Instapaper is a universal app so you can buy it once and use it on all your iOS devices.

• $4.99 – App Store link

Addenda: Jailbreak apps

A lot of Jailbreak apps and tweaks are also being updated to support iOS 5. If Jailbreak is where your heart lies, keep your browser locked on TiPb.com/Jailbreak for all the updates.

Your favorite new iOS 5 apps?

iOS 5 is only a week old and we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of what iOS 5 apps and games will bring to our iPhones and iPads. Did we miss any of your favorites? Did we leave any of the best new apps and updates out? Is there anything else that should have made our top 5 list?

If so, speak up and let us know in the comments!

If Apple’s built-in iPod/Music app just isn’t enough for your podcast listening needs, you’re in luck — TiPb has put together our top 5 favorite podcast apps from the App Store. From finding to streaming to downloading to managing, these are the best podcatcher apps we’ve found to date. Read on to see our recommendations!

Instacast

Instacast is a great app for managing and listening to podcasts. Instacast allows you to manage all your podcast subscriptions including subscribing to new ones all on the device. There is no need to use iTunes or sync your iPhone in any way.

Instacast has its own optimized podcast player app which includes features like 2x playback mode, bi-directional skipping and AirPlay. Instacast has even been written to make full use of the iPhone 4’s Retina display

The app has a beautiful and simple interface and even includes pull down to refresh; which will check for new podcasts and download them automatically.

[$1.99 App Store Link]

Podfisher

Podfisher is an app that I consider to be a half way house between the native podcast app and a third party app. The reason I say this is because Podfisher uses the iTunes database to retrieve the podcast episodes. This brings one positive and one negative.

The positive is that it syncs the podcasts you download over the air back to iTunes when you sync. This means if you use more than one iOS device you can keep all you podcasts in sync. The negative is how you actually download them. You have to click on one podcast at a time which takes you to the iTunes page for the podcast where you can manually download the latest episode. It is a bit of a pain to do that each time compared with the other podcast apps.

Podfisher uses the standard iPod music player so there are no new controls or interfaces to learn. It also gives you the ability to stream podcasts as well as locally cache them.

[$0.99 App Store Link]

Podcaster

Podcaster was one of the first third party podcast apps available and remains one of the favorites. It has a very polished user interface although does seem prone to the odd crash every now and then. It has all the features you could wish for in a podcast listening app; such as subscribing to new podcasts without the need for iTunes. Batch over the air updating including over 3G without any download limits, resume of downloads on interruption, Retina display graphics and audible alerts when new content is available and ready to listen to.

Podcaster has its own podcast player which features variable-speed playback, chapters, gestures, commercial skip buttons, and AirPlay.

[$1.99 App Store Link]

iCatcher

iCatcher is the first podcast app that is a universal binary; so works on both iPhone and iPad at native resolutions, a nice feature. It also covers most of the other bases too including background downloading over WiFi or 3G, schedule times to check updates, background playback of audio and playlists to name a few.

Again it has its own podcast player with all the usual features like AirPlay, track skipping, variable speed of playback and rewind. It also offers a gesture based control system with various swipe actions to toggle well used commands. Podcasts can be added via RSS feeds, a searchable database or via an OPML file.

[$1.99 App Store Link]

RSSRadio Mobile

RSSRadio mobile is another universal binary offering podcast playback on your iPhone or iPad. It is probably not the most feature rich offering but does cover most of the important ones.

Again it has the ability to download episodes of any size over WiFi and 3G, background audio playback, 2x speed playback, background downloading and password protected podcast support.

It definitely lacks a lot of the other apps bells and whistles and is the same price!

[$1.99 App Store Link]

Your favorite podcatcher?

While these may be some of our favorite apps to load up on our iOS devices to listen to podcasts, it doesn’t mean there aren’t other great ones out there. If you use something different let us know what your picks are as well.

And if you want even more suggestions on podcast and audio apps, check out our TiPb apps & games forum for more opinions from forum members. You can also give us your opinions on your favorite podcast apps in our TiPb apps & games review forum. We’d love to hear from you!

Football season is upon us again and with it comes the need for score updates, player stats, rosters, and other information hardcore fans want in the palm of their hands. For iPhone users, you’ve got tons of options when it comes to apps. Whether you just want to check score updates or check on your favorite fantasy football league. Follow along for our top picks.

ESPN ScoreCenter

ScoreCenter is by far one of the most popular sports apps in the App Store. Not only does it contain support for NFL but other sports as well. You can follow your favorite teams and choose to receive push notifications for a variety of different things. You can set alerts for individual games or for a whole season which is nice for people who may not want updates for games they’re able to watch. They can just set them for games they know they’re going to miss.

I like the fact that ScoreCenter allows you to follow all your teams and see a brief summary in one place. If you just want to check scores and stats quickly you won’t have to dig around. But you have the option to see more detailed information if you want to.

ScoreCenter is a free download in the App Store.

[Free - App Store Link]

ESPN Fantasy Football 2011

For those of you that take part in fantasy football leagues, ESPN also offers an app for fantasy leagues as well. You’ll need to already have a fantasy league to use this app but once you have one, you can use the app to manage the following aspects of your fantasy league –

• Start, bench, add, or drop players
• Accept or reject trades
• Receive push notifications for scores, substitutions, and trades

The app also allows you to view fantasy league news as well. It’s also a free download in the App Store.

[Free - App Store Link]

Pro Football Insider

If you want to view more than just stats, scores, rosters, and rankings – you may prefer Pro Football Insider. It contains not only the information you’d expect but thousands of video clips, updated news and rumors, and even more.

One thing I really found interesting about this app over the others was the integrated Twitter feed which aggregates Twitter postings from not only industry experts but players themselves.

If you’re a Pro Football Insider subscriber you’ll also have access to even more premium content that the free app doesn’t provide. This is an app any hardcore football fan will want to pick up.

[Free - App Store Link]

NFL ’11

While I didn’t find NFL ’11 to be as in depth as some of the other picks, the ease of use and simple to navigate interface somewhat makes up for that. If you need an app that will give you up to date game information along with player stats, rosters, and statistics – NFL ’11 should suit you well.

You can customize alerts for teams and games just as you can in some of the other popular apps such as ESPN ScoreCenter. NFL ’11 also offers integration with their NFL.com Fantasy Football 2011 service and app. Most fantasy football fans I talked to seemed to prefer the ESPN fantasy app better but if you prefer the NFL fantasy app, this pairing may be a better option for you.

[Free - App Store Link]

NFL Fantasy Cheat Sheet 2011

Here’s another app fantasy football leaguers will definitely want to check out. Not only does it aggregate up to date NFL news, standings, and charts – it’s one of the better apps out there for managing your fantasy leagues.

Out of the apps I checked out for fantasy football fans, this app seemed to have the best user interface by far. You can quickly view profiles and stats by simply swiping left and right. Other apps sometimes left stats buried and harder to get to. This app is put together exceptionally well and will make managing your content easier than ever.

Some of the main features of the app include the following and much, much more –

• Custom rankings based on your league scoring system
• 2011 projections and stats based on data from 2007 – 2010
• Team depth charts
• Rank players manually
• Draft player tracking

[$2.99 - App Store Link]

While these may be some of our favorite apps to load up on our iOS devices during football season, it doesn’t mean there aren’t other great ones out there. If you use something different let us know what your picks are as well. Special thanks to ‎@jlew0451, @EckStrm, @Wrnglr, and everyone else who helped out by telling us their favorite football apps!

And if you want even more suggestions on football or NFL apps, check out our TiPb apps & games forum for more opinions from forum members. You can also give us your opinions on your favorite sports apps in our TiPb apps & games review forum. We’d love to hear from you!

The soccer — or football to those of us on the proper side of the pond — season is starting again, so what better time to look at the best soccer apps for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. With these apps you can get all the latest transfer news, big stories, results, match highlights and even live games.

Sky Sports Live Football Score Centre

Sky Sports Live Football Score Centre is a great app that covers all the action from the main European leagues. It has all the scores updated as they happen as well as offering a host of other features.

There is live game commentary, league tables, match stats, results, video highlights and even team line ups prior to kick-off. Backed up by the fantastic Sky Sports team, this app is one of the best for soccer fans. You can even personalize the app by selecting your favorite teams. News and results are then brought to you on a dedicated my teams page.

Unfortunately this app is only available in the UK due to the link up with the televised games.

[Free - App Store link]

Fox Soccer

Fox Soccer lets you watch live Premier League and UEFA Champions League games on your iPhone or iPod touch. The app will allow you to follow every English Premier League game as well as provide the latest breaking news, in-match video clips, highlights and more.

The app starts off as a free version which offers news, fixtures, live scores and team line ups. In order to view the live games, you will need to subscribe. Access to the premium section is currently priced at $7.99 for a single month’s access, $22.90 for 3 months access and $79.90 for 12 months access. You then will get access to live video streams of the games.

[Free – App Store link]

LiveScore

LiveScore is a fantastic free app that provides real time scores from many sporting events around the world; with a particular emphasis on soccer scores.

Every match in the UK league is covered along with most other countries. With this app you will know about goals, yellow cards, red cards, substitutions, you name it, seconds after they happen.

There are no push notifications, which is a shame however the app does auto-refresh when open. The application comes directly from LiveScore Ltd., the inventors of real-time delivery of live sport data and owners of the no.1 ranked football / soccer web site globally. No country restrictions either! Fast access and my app of choice!

[Free - App Store link]

Eurosport

Eurosport has put together a very smart app for keeping an eye on all things sporting. Soccer is covered all across Europe with the results and latest scores from all the major leagues.

The app also covers other major sports including Tennis, Formula One, Basketball, Cycling to name a few. The layout and design is very clear and can be customized to match your interests. Eurosport also has a seperate app specifically for the iPad. Not sure why it can’t just make a universal app!

[Free - App Store link iPhone]

[Free - App Store link iPad]

Football Manager Handheld 2011

The final app is not a news app but to finish off we have chosen a game. With this game, you can pretend that you are the manager of your club and guide them to the top of the league to wipe out the disappointment of your real teams underachievement.

Football Manager Handheld is a highly detailed management style game where you take control of your team, including transfers, tactics and training. The app covers 34 leagues across 11 countries. The game is highly addictive; so make sure you have plenty of free time before picking this one up.

[$9.99 – App Store link]

Your top apps?

So there you have them, our top 5 best Soccer apps to get you going. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites, leave them in the comments below!

Apple’s iOS 5 built-in a lot of new, basic functionality previously filled by 3rd party App Store apps, which effectively “Sherlocked” those apps, rendering them redundant in a post-iOS 5 world. Or did it? There’s a world of difference between basic functionality that serves the needs of only the most casual user, and advanced functionality with enough control and features to satisfy a hardcore pro.

What Apple did with iOS 5, as with previous generations of iOS, is take away the entry-level business of several prominent 3rd party apps, but still left them with the premium, higher order market. While it’s always dangerous creating an enterprise based on glaring functionality holes Apple will almost certainly fill at some point in the future, there’s just as much opportunity building a great product that Apple’s entry into the space can benefit.

Here are a 5 apps (and a couple things more) I think could make that case.

Instapaper

Marco Arment’s excellent read-it-later client, Instapaper, which strips away everything but body content from web articles and lets you store it on his web service and access it via a paid iOS app, at first glance, looks threatened by Apple’s new Reader and Reading List features in iOS 5 for iPad and iPhone, and OS X Lion Safari. However, as any long term Instapaper user knows (and Arment himself will tell you), Instapaper goes far beyond the bare-bones, Readabiliy-derived, bookmark-synced implementation Apple is providing. Arment uses the example of how Apple baking RSS into Safari and Mail hasn’t hurt dedicated RSS readers like Google Reader, Reeder, NetNewsWire, etc., and it’s not a terrible. While Google’s entry into navigation (with the free Google Maps Navigation) was met by a similar response from traditional turn-by-turn navigation vendors, Instapaper isn’t a recurring monthly charge or a massive up-front expenditure. It is well regarded and has a devoted install base, and more importantly it has a passionate and creative developer who’s probably as happy to occupy the high end against Reader/Reading List the way MacBook’s occupy it against cheap netbooks.

Arment was smart, however, to drop the free version before Apple launched Reader/Reading List.

Camera+

Just like Apple put a hurt on HDR (high dynamic range) app makers with iOS 4, the addition of Twitter integration, gridlines, and basic photo editing tools will be challenging for App Store apps that previously filled those post-production and easy sharing niches. There’s an especially bitter irony here for Camera+, however, as the Lisa Bettany-driven, Tap Tap Tap built, filter-filled shooter was previously removed from the App Store for using a private API that enabled the volume button to be used as a shutter switch — something Apple has now added as default to the built-in Camera app in iOS 5. Whether you consider that fair or foul, in a post iOS 5 world, Camera+ still offers those previously mentioned filters. And as for the elements iOS 5 does include, some still seem to prefer Camera+’s implementation. So neither Camera+, nor other popular apps like Hipstamatic or Instagram are in immediate danger.

(Ironically, Apple’s iBooks did much the same to Tap Tap Tap’s Classic following iOS 4 [Hat tip, @arnoldkim])

LockInfo

LockInfo, the brilliant lock screen information and pull-down notification manager by David Ashman, was the primary reason I jailbroke under iOS 4.x. iOS was (and still is, outside the iOS 5 beta) a modal, interruptive bag of notification hurt, and LockInfo was my salve. With iOS 5′s Notification Center, however, Apple has taken almost direct inspiration, offering both the lock screen info and the pull-down notifications that made LockInfo so indispensable. But again, Apple is — so far — only covering the basics. As Ashman told us during our video interview at WWDC 2011 there’s a lot that LockInfo does that Apple’s Notification Center still doesn’t do. LockInfo provides quick access to full mail texts, for example, and has a plugin architecture for extensibility. Those who only need very basic, unobtrusive notifications will be fine with Notification Center. Power users will still want LockInfo’s fuller feature set.

Todo

Whether you’re a fan of Appigo’s Todo, or of another app like Omni’s OmniFocus, Cultured Code’s Things, you probably thought there was no way Apple would ever enter their space. They hadn’t in 4 versions of iOS, after all, and since Steve Jobs has assistants to manage his lists, there was a slim chance he even noticed the gap. (That’s a joke, I know he doesn’t code the entire OS himself. He has people for that too…). Enter Reminders in iOS 5. Time aware, location aware, it will help you get things done whenever, and wherever you need, and unlike Things it offers sync — with iCal, after a fashion — from day one. But it’s rather spartan. It does what it does simply and elegantly (if you like paper textures), and that’s about it. One-trick list-making apps and alarm apps are in a lot of trouble, but deep, highly productive, nerdy apps like Todo and Omnifocus, and even more able alarm apps like Due will still be required for more complex time management. Even Omni’s premium price probably won’t cause them too many problems since at that price people who get OmniFocus want OmniFocus, they don’t want Reminders.

[$4.99 - iTunes link]

Kik

BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) is such a platform lock-in for RIM that it’s not surprising astute developers made direct messaging apps for iPhone, including Kik, Whatsapp, and the now Facebook-owned Beluga. That’s probably the very reason Apple introduced iMessage in iOS 5, to provide platform users the ability to quickly, easily, and cheaply text each other. (Roshambo’ing the carriers by building it into the previously SMS/MMS-only Messages app was no doubt the cherry on that feature Sunday.) But here’s the thing — Kik isn’t a platform owner, so they have no vested interest in locking their users into a platform. Instead, they want to lock them into the app/service, and so they make them cross-platform (though RIM has pulled Kik from BlackBerry App World due to a legal dispute). This means, while they’re still proprietary and you’re still locked in, you can message people on non-Apple mobile devices, and if you ever switch to a non-Apple mobile device (perish the thought), you can bring your contacts with you. BBM might eventually go cross-platform, Twitter might one day supplant messaging apps, or — please, oh please — someone might actually build a great service with non-proprietary pipes on top of Jabber (or something similar), but for now only iOS-to-iOS only users will have any incentive to switch.

Jailbreak

Right before the WWDC 2011 keynote I asked Saurik, founder of Cydia, if Apple was out to make Jailbreak irrelevant. He didn’t think they could, and neither did I, but Apple is certainly going through the list of compelling reasons to Jailbreak and checking them off in the stock software, at least some of them, at least to some degree. I already mentioned LockInfo, but Apple still doesn’t offer any form of quick actions, like BiteSMS does for responding to text messages without having to switch to the Messages app. Apple doesn’t offer quick access either, like SBSettings does for toggling Wi-Fi, Blue Tooth, Airplane Mode, etc. Apple doesn’t offer themes beyond wall papers. And like a host of other apps do for a host of other features Apple can’t or won’t yet support. Nor do I think Apple wants to kill Jailbreak. Aside for their not going out of their way to kill recent exploits (with the exception of easily targetable malware vectors like web-based PDF attacks), it gives Apple a free expert mode and public test bed — an incubator to see ideas and metaphors tried out on a scale their own secrecy would never allow. They have to have some way of vetting features for next year’s iOS 6, right?

Android

As I was writing this article, Seth Weintraub joked that, with iOS 5, Apple tried to Sherlock Android. It’s fair to say that however many checkboxes Apple was trying to take away from Jailbreak, they were trying just as hard to take them away from Google’s competing OS. While Android’s “openness” is disingenuous, their relative freedom and powerful feature set are inarguable. You can still do more on a stock Android device than you can on a stock iPhone, but the gap narrowed with iOS 5. (Ignoring for the moment rooting vs. Jailbreak which is a different conversation). Android still has widgets, it still has skins (a mixed blessing but an important one to many users), it still offers tons of customization options, and hooks into the OS Apple will probably never provide. It’s a different OS, operating under a different model, but that will no doubt appeal to a different type of user. And most importantly for iOS, it will keep pushing Apple to check off those boxes and narrow that gap even further.

Who’s Sherlocking who?

With iOS 5, Apple certainly killed the low-end, casual market for a lot of iPhone and iPad apps. (Just like they’ve done with previous generations of iOS, including Installer for Jailbreak when they released the App Store with iOS 2.) For the best-in-class, however, for the premium apps with the pro-level functionality, it’s possible Apple’s entry into their space will validate their functionality and introduce them to a much larger audience. Only time will tell if they ultimately lose any sales to the new built-in apps, or gain even more customers due to increased awareness. But this has happened before and it will happen again, and the really savvy developers will have positioned their really great apps to take full advantage, and perhaps kill a certain lucrative segment of the built-in apps’ user base.

iPhone is the best camera since its the one you have with you, but what’s the best, most must-have camera app to take your photos with? Some are instant, some are clean, some have filters, some are just for fun. Whether it’s for tourism, for art, or for those special family moments, the choices are almost endless.

That’s where TiPb comes in. Read on for our top 5 favorite, most recommended photo apps for iPhone!

Camera

Ok, let’s face it, the stock camera app on the iPhone has gotten a lot better over the past two years with the new features of auto focus, tap to focus, and HDR. And with iOS 5 it’s poised to get even better. Quick launch from the lock screen, volume button as a shutter, grid lines, basic image editing including rotate, auto enhance, and crop, the list is getting longer and longer.

It’s still not perfect, still doesn’t offer filters, panoramas, or higher level editing, but it’s solid and it looks like Apple is putting time into it.

Camera+

Camera+ offers up to 6 times zoom, a stabilizer, a timer, a burst option, the use of iPhone 4′s LED flash, and the option to use both the front and rear facing camera. The picture quality is better than that of the stock camera app, and for only $0.99 it is definitely worth the purchase. In addition filters hand picked by Lisa Bettany, Camera+ also makes sure all the pictures you take get saved into the app itself, it does not automatically save them to the camera roll. In the options menu, it allows you to pick and choose which pictures you want to save to your camera roll. It also allows you to share pictures to Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, SMS, or email. The app also allows you to copy and paste pictures you have taken.

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

ProCamera

ProCamera brings a lot of precise settings to the iPhone, which is nice for the experienced photographer. It has anti-shake, which is nice for those of us who can’t seem to hold still while taking a picture! It also has a timer, a grid option, a video camera option, the option for full resolution when in zoom, and auto horizontal calibration.

It does not have the option to share pictures from the app, or to pick and choose which pictures you want to save to your camera roll, but the other features it offers makes up for it in the long run.

[$2.99 - iTunes Link]

Quickpix

Quickpix has its own zoom built into the application, as well as support for the iPhone LED flash. It also has a really cool feature which allows you to take video and shoot pictures at the same time. This is really handy for events where you want the video but would also like a few snap shots, or if you’re not sure what you want to take and would rather have the capture streaming, ready for anything.

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

Instagram

Instagram is what all the cool kids are using to take pictures, apply filters, and share photos with friends and social networks such as twitter and Facebook. Instagram has tap to focus, zoom, and makes use of the iPhone 4 LED light. The coolest thing about Instagram, however, is the use of filters. Take a picture using the Instagram app and go into your settings options, you have the option to edit the photo and apply effects right from the app.

[Free - iTunes link]

Your top apps?

So there you have them, our top 5 best iPhone camera apps to get you started. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

School’s out and it’s time for a break from work. Curious which are the absolute best apps and games to take with you on your much deserved summer vacation? Odds are you’ll want to share your adventures, brush up on local attractions, and stay connected while you’re having fun. Luckily there are tons of apps available in the App Store that makes organizing and sharing your vacation from your iPhone super simple.

Whether you want informational apps for your own use or social apps to share, we’ve got you covered. Read on for TiPb’s top 10 most recommended, most must-have summer vacation apps to get your started.

• Top 10 apps for new iPhone owners
• More top apps

Gowalla

For regular everyday check-ins, I typically use Foursquare. But for trips, Gowalla wins hands down. It acts as somewhat of a “digital passport”. They offer stamps and pins for completing trips and checking in at certain places (similar to Foursquare badges).

You can also upload pictures and comments on places that you’ve traveled to. Sometimes you’ll pick up items when you check into places. You can either drop them elsewhere for someone else to find (and to become a founder of a place), or you can choose to add them to your pack where they’ll permanently stay. I’ll typically drop items I’ve picked up more than one of and save more rare and unique items in my pack.

Gowalla also allows you to share check-ins and pictures to Twitter and Facebook as well which makes it even easier to let your friends and family follow along with your adventures.

Free – iTunes Link

Instagram

I use Instagram on almost a daily basis but it’s especially cool for sharing pictures on vacation. Not only does it upload your images to a plethora of services (Twitter, Facebook, etc) – you can also add all kinds of cool filter effects to your photos before uploading them.

I’ve always found uploading photos directly to Facebook to be hit or miss. I always use Instagram now. It’s fast and connects to all the services I want to share to. The user interface is simple and uploading a photo only takes seconds, which is great when you’re constantly on the go and just want to share a quick snapshot.

Free – iTunes Link

TripAdvisor

While you may have already loaded some GPS and navigation apps, you’ll also want to make sure you have additional information about certain places. TripAdvisor is a great app to find out about hotels and attractions. You can read and write reviews straight from the app. I know we’ve saved ourselves some heartache by checking user reviews for certain hotels and restaurants before making our decision.

It’ll work regardless where you’re at so this is a great one to have on board for virtually any type of trip. And don’t forget to write reviews for future travelers as well!

Free – iTunes Link

Beautiful Planet HD

No matter where you’re traveling, Beautiful Planet has tons of pictures, facts, and descriptions of the most amazing travel destinations on Earth. I’ve found a lot of really cool destinations just by browsing through the app in my spare time. While on vacation, you can not only learn about the places you’re visiting, but find other really cool areas to check out.

This app is perfect for vacationers that want to spend a lot more time outdoors than they do indoors. I also recommend this to travelers who don’t necessarily have a strict itinerary and really want to spend more time exploring than anything else.

$1.99 – iTunes Link

Navigation and/or information apps

No matter where you’re going, some type of GPS app should be on the top of your list. I personally prefer Garmin StreetPilot when I travel but you’ll want to pick the GPS app that covers the areas your traveling to. That’s why I’m not picking a technical “favorite” for this category. What you will want to use will differ based on where you’re going. Just pick one that covers the area you’re traveling to the best.

You can also look at specified navigation apps as well. I live on a lake and love the water, so I picked up an app called Marine&Lakes. These types of navigation apps are great for specified areas and a lot of times contain attractions or areas that you’d never otherwise discover.

Prices will vary depending what apps you choose to use.

Your top summer vacation apps?

So there you have them, our top 10 best iPhone 4 apps to get you started. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerburg has famously said that “The iPad is not Mobile” and so Facebook has no plans to develop an official iPad app. Luckily there are plenty third party Facebook apps in the App Store. We’ve already given you our top 10 apps and games for iPad but this time we’re going more specific, and more social! So read on for TiPb’s Top 5 Facebook apps for your iPad!

(And hey, don’t forget to friend TiPb while you’re at it!)

MyPad+

MyPad+ is a great Facebook client that looks and feels like Twitter for iPad. If youre used to the official Twitter app, you will feel right at home. MyPad supports multiple logins, and implements Facebook, in a really sleek fashion. The app also includes completely native chat and a built-in browser for any of those external links.

[Free, $0.99 - iTunes]

Friended

Friended displays lots of data in its unique column view, including the live feed, your friend’s recent pictures and your recent friends. It has full native support for chat. Friended sports lots of popups as you navigate through the app, so you never lose the info in a background. You can view any external links within the app as well.

[Free, $0.99 - iTunes]

Friendly

Friendly for iPad offers lots of features that you’d expect in a facebook app, and then adds even more. The app has support for multiple logins if you share an iPad with anyone else. You can upload pictures to facebook and Friendly even offers 16 fun photo effects, like Black and White and Sepia. It also supports facebook’s “New Messages”. Friendly is the only iPad app that allows you to edit profile details, through its built in browser. There’s also an option for push notifications for birthdays.

[Free, $0.99 - iTunes]

FacelyHD

FacelyHD is basic app with a large UI for easy navigation. Despite this, the app includes full support for chat, with saved history within the app, as well as facebook’s ‘New Messages’. FacelyHD also offers push notifications for messages, pokes, friend requests and chat, which you can turn off individually.

[$0.99 - iTunes]

Facebook.com

Although its not strictly an app, Facebook.com is a great free alternative way to view facebook on your iPad. There is no need for any additional downloads and it works just as it would on a Mac or PC, with the exception of chat functionality, and apps.

[Facebook.com]

Your favorite?

So there you have them, our top 5 best ways to Facebook on your iPad. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPad App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

There are a ton of great budget tracking apps in the App Store, but which ones are the financial best of the best? Which iPhone app should you be using to ensure you’ll always be within your monthly spending limit, always have that vacation fund ready and waiting, and always be on top of your overall finances?

Although the options are aplenty, we’ve narrowed the list down to the top 5 apps to help keep you focused on your spending and income levels without giving yourself too much of a headache. Read on after the break!

iReconcile

iReconcile is one of my favorite apps for staying on top of all my personal finances. It comes packed with a ton of great features including a built-in check register, extensive reporting and an online backup and sync service ($1.99/mo or $19.99/yr). Best of all, the app comes with a budget tracker tool that’s second to none, allowing you to drill down to yearly, monthly, weekly or even a daily budgeting.

Setting up a budget with iReconcile is quick and easy, with options to choose which categories and sub-categories should be included or excluded from your setup. Another useful feature for me is the rollover option, which lets your remaining funds for the month’s budget rollover into the next month’s budget without any user input whatsoever. Budgeting with your check register has never been easier, and with the amount of additional features iReconcile offers, I’d highly recommend giving it a try!

[$2.99 -- iTunes link]

Expenditure

Expenditure is a gem of a budget & finance tracking app. It features effortless methods for adding new transactions and going over your allotted chunk of spending money, and comes with awesome features that were missing from some of the other apps I chose for this post. A good example is when adding a new transaction you’ll be presented with options for including a photo or a quick note, which effectively pushes the customizability and flexibility of your transactions beyond most basic budgeting apps.

The attention to detail in this app shouldn’t be overlooked — another great example is the built-in currency converter with a rather extensive list of supported currencies, making it easy to keep yourself on a budget when vacationing or out of the county.

[$1.99 -- iTunes link]

MoneyBook

If you’ve been on the hunt for a more feature-packed budgeting app then look no further than MoneyBook. It’s simple in nature, but looking a little deeper you’ll find a number of unexpected surprises. Entering a new transaction is a breeze, with flexible options for adding notes or affixing a specific category to individual transactions. In addition, MoneyBook has options to export your finances and also lets you password protect sensitive items you don’t want others to see. I didn’t see any graph or chart options, so you may want to keep that in mind when choosing which app is for you.

MoneyBook also comes with a free cloud backup service in case you lose your iPhone or just want to make sure your important transactions are stored somewhere other than on the device itself.

[$2.99 -- iTunes link]

Toshl

Speaking of the cloud… Need a secure, simple and intuitive way of keeping your finances in order while simultaneously taking advantage of that newfangled cloud technology everyone keeps talking about? Toshl delivers with a clean iPhone expense tracking app featuring a built-in (and free!) easy to use online syncing service. The app takes away the worry of losing your spending history by syncing everything — literally everything — to the cloud automatically after adding or updating a transaction, with manual sync options for those looking for a little more control.

In addition to a well thought out design, the developers offer great upgrade incentives such as multiple user support for family budgeting, added export options for Excel, PDF and Google Docs along with karma points for supporting the developers. You can either use the free service or upgrade to the Pro option for just $19.95/year.

[Free -- iTunes link]

Mint

To describe Mint as a well-rounded and feature-rich finance service would be an understatement. In terms of budget tracking, it beats most apps out of the water with ease. Mint automatically updates your spending and transactions without any user input required. It does so by connecting directly to your bank account through Mint’s secure and award-winning online service. It keeps an eye on all of your spending and automatically categorizes your transactions in the background so you don’t have to constantly update your spending profile in order for the service to work for you.

You can add checking, savings or even your retirement account information for an in-depth overview of your spending and saving habits, and comes with added notification features so you never miss a bill or come too close to your spending limit. They’ll even notify you of any suspicious transactions they see!

Although Mint isn’t just for budget tracking, it does a superb job at it. Along with its many features, I see Mint as one of the best options out there for categorizing and tracking your spending while on the go. The service is free, so what are you waiting for?

[Free -- iTunes link]

Your top budget and finance apps?

There’s a lot of other great apps out their for tracking and keeping tabs on your finances — each offering unique features other apps might have missed — so take a look in the App Store to see what fits your needs. Also, be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and the TiPb iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites, leave them in the comments below!

Just get a new white iPhone 4 and curious as to which cases will better show it off? Want to protect that beautiful glass display (and glass back!) and keep that white looking bright? Well read on for the TiPb store’s top 10 most recommended, most must-have white iPhone cases to get your started.

BodyGuardz Protective Skins

What’s a better case than almost no case at all? With BodyGuardz protective skins you get the next best thing to naked, “made from the same material that is used to shield the front of automobiles from stones and other abrasive elements.” (And we’ve tested to prove it). If you want to enjoy your precious new white iPhone almost the way Jony Ive intended, this is the way to go. [TiPb store link]

Also try:

• InvisibleShield, for those who prefer this brand of film. [TiPb store link]
• Tat Skinz Carbon Fiber from the same people who make BodyGuardz with a great grip ad feel. [TiPb store link]
• DODOcase BOOKback packs luxury leather into a super slim skin. [DODOcase]

Apple Bumpers

While protective films cover the glass, bumpers cover and defend the antenna and give you enough of an edge you can put your iPhone down without having to worry about it coming in contact with any potentially damaging surfaces. If you’re in a low signal area they’ll also stop you from “holding it wrong“. Plus, the black, white, green, blue, orange, and pink colors look really sweet on the white iPhone — there’s a reason all of Apple’s initial bumper art was shown off on white. [Apple Store link]

Also try:

• Element Case Vapor Case for high end, hypercar style bumper-ing [Element Case link]
• Mobi Bumper is so inexpensive you can easily justify getting one each of the clear, gray, pink, and purple [TiPb store link]

Case-Mate Chrome Barely There Skin Case

You knew I had to pic this, right? If you’re worried about the white iPhone 4 being 0.2mm thicker than the black iPhone 4, stop. The Case-Mate Chrome fits the white iPhone 4 perfectly. And sure it covers up a lot of the back… but it does it with chrome and, frankly, it looks stunning! It remains one of my favorite all-time cases and with good reason — it protects my iPhone while giving me unconstrained use of the screen and big opening around the dock and other ports so all my other accessories, like car chargers, fit. [TiPb store link]

Also try:

Mobi Metal Back are inexpensive and look absolutely fabulous on the white iPhone 4. [TiPb store link] White Diamonds and white iPhone 4 equals gorgeous. I’m not even joking. Swoon. [White Diamonds link]

Overboard Pro White Waterproof Case

Life’s a beach, but at least with Overboard you can take your beautiful new white iPhone 4 to one without worrying it will suffer water damage. It’s also great for long soaks in the tub, jogging in the rain, or even diving into the pool and going through the car wash! You can get it with matching earphones for the total water win. I don’t vacation without it. [TiPb store link]

Also try:

• Aquapac, if light blue is more your thing [TiPb store link]
• Golla bags are great if you hike more than splash. [TiPb store link]

Mophie juice pack air

Okay, this doesn’t really show off your white iPhone 4, but it will keep it charged up so you can show it off longer and to many more people. Charge it separately or charge both your iPhone and the case together and you’ll get up to double the amount of music, talking, gaming, and everything else you love doing on your iPhone. Great for road warriors, travelers, and serious shoppers alike! [TiPb store link]

• Mophie juice pak plus gives even more power for slightly more expense. [TiPb store link]

Your top case?

So there you have them, our top 5 best cases to get you showing off your white iPhone 4. For chargers, cables, headsets, Bluetooth, and more, check out our Top 10 accessories for your iPhone 4 list. Also check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone Accessories Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

Sponsored by the TiPb iPhone 4 Accessory Store

Summer is almost upon us and it is always a great time to get outside and do some exercise. With the help of your iPhone, you can make that experience so much better and more rewarding. We look at our top 5 Fitness apps to help you reach your goals! Check them out after the break!

RunKeeper

RunKeeper uses your iPhones built in GPS technology to track your fitness adventures. It has a very easy to use interface and you can use it to monitor running, walking, cycling and many other activities too. You can also enter activities manually; if you do your exercise on your treadmill, RunKeeper still has you covered.

RunKeeper syncs up to its own web portal where you can view your history and stats in more detail. Integration with Facebook and Twitter is also included so you can show off your fitness prowess to your friends!

[Free - iTunes link]

Nike+ GPS

An additional feature is the Nike+ Tag. This allows you to run against friends in a virtual Tag type game. Outrun your friends to win. The Nike+ website stores all your stats and you can also post to Twitter and Facebook all without leaving the app.

[$1.99 - iTunes link]

Full Fitness

You can easily create your own exercise program or use one of the 20 built in programs to help you reach your goals. Full Fitness can also be used to track your food intake and body weight as well as schedule your workouts.

Full Fitness allows you to log your exercises, view progress graphs, and email or backup the results online.

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

Edomondo Sports Tracker

The app allows you to track distance, duration, speed and calories burned as well as monitoring of your heart rate if you have the necessary add on. All the data is again synced online where you can share information to Facebook and Twitter as well as other members of the Endomondo community.

[Free - iTunes link]

Cyclemeter GPS Bike Computer for Road & Mountain Biking

Cyclemeter is not just for cycling however it is aimed squarely at that market. Cyclemeter is an app that tracks your rides, recording time, location, distance, elevation and speed. Your progress is announced to you via 25 configurable announcements including distance travelled, time taken, current speed and elevation.

You can set up your next ride against a previous ride of the same route. This is like a race mode and enables you to try and beat your previous best times. If you have friends that use the app, you can import their routes and times into the app and use this to race against too.

Twitter and Facebook sharing are all catered for and you can also get text to speech; although this is via an in-app purchase.

[$4.99 - iTunes link]

Your top apps?

Just get a new iPad 2 and curious which are the best, most must-have apps and games you need to install first? Want to really show off those new cameras or put that new super fast Apple A5 processor to the test? Well read on for TiPb’s top 5 most recommended, most must-have iPad 2 apps to get your started.

If you’re brand new to iPad, be sure to check out our Top 10 iPad Apps to get you started with all the basics, from social to casual to creative. If you really want to stun your friends and family, however — if you want to blow them away with your new iPad 2, then grab/update these next!

iMovie

When Apple debuted the iPad 2 they wanted to raise the bar when it came to iPad 2 software as well, and iMovie was their first salvo. Pull in video and photos via the decidedly tepid built-in cameras, from the Camera Roll, or from your iPhone, point-and-shoot, vidcam, or DSLR via SD or USB and the Camera Connection Kit and you’re on your way. If you’re familiar with iMovie ’11 on Mac it’s the same basic concept but completely touch-centric. You can mould your video as if you’re working with digital clay. Clip and transition and modify the audio and title — all in multitouch. Universal app – buy once, use on iPhone 4, iPod touch 4, and iPad 2.* [$4.99 - iTunes link]

GarageBand

Apple’s second iPad 2 salvo is also arguably one of the best mobile apps ever made. While it also works on the original iPad it’s even better on iPad 2. If you’re familiar with GarageBand ’11 on Mac… well this is a different animal almost entirely. You’ve got touch sensitive instruments that, thanks to the accelerometer, can even tell how hard you’re hitting them. Strings, keyboards, and percussion from classic to electric are available both for you to play and in “smart” varieties to play along. You can also plug in your own instruments and record your own vocals and you’ve got 8 full tracks to mix it all down with. Even if you’re not musically inclined, GarageBand will wow you. [$4.99 - iTunes link]

Real Racing 2 HD

Always on the cutting edge of Apple’s latest hardware, the ADA award-winning team at Firemint wasted no time in releasing an iPad 2 optimized version of their flagship driving game. Gyroscope makes it steer better and the new PowerVR SGX 543 graphics chip in iPad 2 lets them turn the textures to overdrive. While the game may look and control better than ever before, it’s still Real Racing 2 and that means great cars, exciting tracks, and more fun than you can throw a hyper car at. If only I could drive like the Stig! [$9.99 - iTunes link]

Infinity Blade

Not only did Epic provide great new content in the recent Deathless Kings update for their Unreal 3 Engine-powered fighter, they powered it up for iPad 2 as well. While the original Infinity Blade for iPad blew people away with its gorgeous, real-time 3D environments and kinetic gameplay, the iPad 2 version takes it not only to the next level, but the next generations. The textures look better than ever, the frame-rate is near flawless, and if it looked gorgeous before it looks darn well glorious now. (You can even plug in the HDMI adapter and let your friends watch the mayhem video mirrored on your big screen HDTV!). [$5.99 - iTunes link]

Dead Space HD

Dead Space HD was one of the best looking, most atmospheric, most intense first-person shooters (FPS) games we’ve experienced on iPad — and now they’ve gone and enhanced the already impressive visuals for iPad 2. So yes, good things can get better… or scary things can get even scarier… either way! It’s hardcore horror and that might not be for everyone but for those who’ve been aching for console quality FPS on iPad, we’ve taken then next big leap in that direction. [$6.99 - iTunes link]

Your top apps?

So there you have them, our top 5 best apps to show off your new iPad 2. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPad App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

Twitter for iPhone recently updated to include a rather annoying and intrusive Quick Bar that has outraged most of its users. So much so, that it has been coined as #dickbar. One solution is to jailbreak and install Twizzler, a tweek that’ll remove the trending bar from the Twitter app. However, for those of us who are devout members of #TeamPure, we must look towards other Twitter apps.

Follow along for TiPb’s top 5 Twitter apps (not including Twitter’s official app)!

Twitterrific

Twitterrific is the very first Twitter application to ever hit the App Store. It is full-featured, award-winning client with a beautiful and intuitive UI. Twitterrific supports link shortening and tweet translation in addition to the ability to filter your timeline for specific tweet types & trends. As an extra bonus, Twitterrific is a universal app for iPhone and iPad.

Available as an in-app purchase for $4.99, you can upgrade to Twitterrific Premium which will remove ads and grant the feature of managing multiple accounts.

Twitterrific does not support push notifications.

[Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Twittelator

If you’re looking for an overload of features, look no further than Twittelator. In addition to posting to Twitter, you can post to your Facebook wall. One of the unique features of Twittelator is the ability to create and share themes.

For an in-app purchase of $4.99, you can upgrade to Twittelator Pro and unlock over 45 additional features including support for multiple accounts, more customization, Geocoding, and the ability to upload to WordPress and Posterous.

Unfortunately, one of the hundreds of features that Twittelator has to offer is not push notifications.

[Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Echofon

Echofon is a full-featured twitter client with a very clean interface and support for push notifications. One of the unique features of Echofon is a mute option to squelch users, clients and hashtags. Additionally, Echofon previews media directly in your stream which helps you decide if it’s something you’re interested in. If so, a quick tap of the thumbnail will open the photo or video. Echofon is also a universal application for iPhone and iPad.

As an in-app purchase for $4.99, you can remove the ads and upgrade to Echofon Pro.

[Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Tweetings

Tweetings is an excellent Twitter app with a clutter-free UI. It let’s you search who’s nearby and find out what’s trending at the moment or see who’s around you with Augmented Reality. Tweetings also allows selective or automatic updates to Facebook as well as support for TwitLonger, Twtmore, and URL shortening.

Many of the big features, like push notifications, are stripped from the free version of Tweetings, but you can individually choose which features are important to you and purchase them for $0.99 or upgrade to the full version for $2.99.

[Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Tweetlist

Tweetlist offers an excellent way to view lists and quickly switch between them. The Tweetlists tab is quick to access and you simply swipe left and right to view different lists. This client is very snappy and has excellent Voice Over accessibility support. Tweetlists also offers support for Twitlonger, Instapaper, and Read it Later. Another fantastic feature of Tweetlist is that conversations open automatically – if a tweet is part of a conversation, the entire conversation will be displayed upon tapping on the tweet.

[$2.99 - iTunes link]

Bonus: Boxcar

Unfortunately, not all Twitter applications offer push notification support. That’s where Boxcar comes to the rescue. Boxcar can send you push notifications for mentions, DMs, RTs, new followers, favorites, and whenever you’re added to a list and you can choose from over 35 different clients to open automatically for Twitter, including the ones mentioned above.

The goodness doesn’t stop there though. Boxcar also offers push notifications for Facebook, Email, RSS, Growl, Github, Google Voice, Google Buzz, App Recommendation, and more.

[Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Your top apps?

So there you have them, our top 5 best iPhone Twitter apps to get you going. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

Switching from Droid or another Android device like the Samsung Facinate to the iPhone — maybe the new Verizon iPhone? — and curious which are the best, most must-have apps you need to make yourself feel at home? Well read on for TiPb’s top 5 most recommended, most must-have apps to get your Android experience maximized on iPhone.

Google Mobile (Voice search + Google Goggles)

Unlike Android, iPhone doesn’t (yet) have broad and deeply integrated voice features in iOS. While there’s some Voice Control commands for making calls and playing music, that’s about it. Enter Google Mobile which not only adds voice search but also bundles in Google Goggles functionality. From location and maps to contacts and the web to most anything you can say or point your iPhone 4 camera at, Google Mobile gets you answers and fast. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Siri was bought by Apple for a reason. If you’re in the US, Siri is your voice-activated artificially intelligent assistant. [Free - iTunes link]
• Vlingo not only lets you use your voice to call or search but tweet on Twitter and update your status on Facebook. [Free with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Google Voice

Yes Google Voice is finally available for the iPhone. MInd you, it’s still US only but if you want the app you probably have an account already. It’s not as deeply integrated as Android but it has all the features you know and love, including push notifications for new SMS text and voicemail messages, listen and/or read voicemail, Google Voice number displayed as Caller ID, access to your iPhone contacts, and it will run in the background under iOS 4 or later. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Line2 isn’t free but it is business-centric with full on VoIP functionality, cheap rates, and international availability. [Subscription - iTunes Link]
• Skype lets you make free VoIP calls between devices/computers — including video calls! — and cheap calls to landline. Free/credits – iTunes link]

Mailroom (Gmail)

You can access your Gmail account via IMAP or with full push via ActiveSync right from Apple’s built-in Mail app and while you’ll get unified inbox and threaded messages you won’t get Stars and you won’t get labels. Likewise Gmail.com won’t give you the ability to access contacts or view attachments. Enter Mailroom, essential the Gmail.com webapp inside a native iPhone app wrapper that gives you most of the best of both worlds. (See our tip on using Mailroom for a better iPhone Gmail experience.) [$2.99 - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Google Mobile, mentioned above, gives you push notification for your Gmail. [Free - iTunes link]
• Boxcar not only gives you push notification for Gmail but will open it for you in Mailroom. [Free - iTunes link]

Waze (Google Navigation)

Google hasn’t yet made a version of their free Google Navigation app for iPhone but Waze provides a free crowd-sourced alternative. It’s full on voice, turn-by-turn directions that learns as you drive and will even let you munch tokens and reward you for your contributions. Yes, it’s navigation gone social. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• NAVIGON MobileNavigator if you want to go up to a premium navigation experience with all the onboard maps and bells and whistles that come with it. [$39.99 - iTunes link]
• AT&T Navigator, powered by TeleNav, keeps your maps online, your downloads small, and is subscription based so your upfront costs are much less. [Subscription - iTunes link]

Safari (Porn and everything else)

Apple’s iTunes App Store is curated and Steve Jobs says that’s to protect you from porn. He also says the Android Market is a porn store. He neglects to mention iPhone has pretty much the best browser in the mobile space (Flash aside) and the web, it be filled with porn. It also be filled with pretty much everything else, including many awesome Google web apps like Google Docs that work just great in Safari. If you can’t find something on the App Store, launch Safari, hit the Google search box (irony!) and chances are you’ll find it on the web. [Built in]

Also check out:

• Skyfire is a browser that does server-side translation of Flash to iPhone-friendly H.264 so if you ever think you’re missing your favorite Flash video, this could fix you up. [$2.99 - iTunes link]
• Apple’s iPhone web app directory has a great list of web apps should you want to find a bunch more. [Web link]

More Google

Google has a bunch of apps in the App Store, including Google Places, Google Latitude, Google Authenticator, Panoramio, and Google Earth. If you really miss your Google fix, check them out. [Free - iTunes link]

More iPhone apps and games

Once you’ve gotten that Google fix and you’re ready for the best of the rest, check out TiPb’s Top 10 iPhone apps where we list off some of the best, most must-have social networking, communications/IM, productivity, music/internet radio, photography, utility, and location apps, along with casual, time management, and hard core games. We’ve also got an ongoing series of top app lists in different categories and we’re adding more all the time, so keep your eyes peeled!

Bonus: Jailbreak

If you’ve been rooting your Droid or Android and don’t want Apple telling you which apps and hacks you can install on your device, allow us to introduce you to the wonderful world of Jailbreak. We’re talking the Cydia Store, themes and customizations, notifications and easy settings access, and pretty much everything else you can think of and Apple would never approve. Check out our Jailbreak Starters Guide to get you going, our Top 5 Jailbreak apps and Top 5 Jailbreak themes for some of our favorites, and head on over to the Jailbreak Forum for expert help and discussion.

Your top apps?

So there you have them, our top 5 best iPhone apps for Droid/Android switchers. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

Top 10 iPhone and iPad stories of 2010 is a headline about headlines that should come with a spoiler warning. The mere fact we had to include the word iPad this year spills the beans on the biggest story of the last 12 months. But it wasn’t the only big story — far from it. Follow on after the break as we look back at the triumphs and tragedies and the news and rumors that made for the most monumental stories of 2010.

1. iPad

Even before it was released, before we knew the official name for it, pundits said Apple’s tablet would be a flop. Then Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad, proclaiming it was better than a laptop and better than a smartphone for the web, email, photos, ebooks, movies, games, and music. And customers bought it by the millions. Nothing less than an attempt to make the personal computer more personal, to mainstream the digital appliance, the iPad established a category that had floundered for a decade and once again sent competitors scrambling not only to keep up, but to stay relevant. (Especially post iOS 4.2.)

• Complete iPad coverage

2. iPhone 4

With iPhone 4 Apple boldly claimed they were revolutionizing the phone. Again. Just like 2007, they were right. With a 960×640 Retina Display, 5mp camera and 720p HD video recording, FaceTime video calling, and a glass and stainless steel design as sexy as it was controversial — they were right. It sold 14 million its first full quarter on the market. Any other company, any other time, and iPhone 4 would have been our #1 story of the year, but Apple this year also introduced the iPad, pushing iPhone 4 — as incredible as it seems, to #2.

• Complete iPhone 4 coverage

3. Antennagate

We mentioned the iPhone 4 design was controversial, and while the double layers of glass have some worried about cracks, it’s that aluminum antenna that started a media circus this summer. Actually, it was real problems with the antenna under low signal conditions compounded and combusted by Apple and Steve Jobs’ flippant initial response — “you’re holding it wrong.” A few months, and millions of free Apple (and TiPb!) bumper cases later and “antennagate” is gone from the headlines, consigned to year-in-review fodder like this. The only question is what, if anything, will change with iPhone 5′s antenna next year.

• Complete antennagate coverage

4. White iPhone 4

“Great artists ship” is a quote Steve Jobs is very fond of. When it comes to the white iPhone 4 originally shown off alongside its black counterpart at WWDC back in June… well, we’re still waiting. Many other companies miss shipping dates but Apple isn’t many other companies. It’s rare for them, especially in consumer electronics. That’s probably what made this a story that wouldn’t go away. Currently re-re-(re?)-scheduled for spring 2011, many have stopped waiting and either bough the black, had aftermarket white conversions done (like Leanna!), or just decided to wait for iPhone 5, which should hit the market only a few short months later.

• Complete white iPhone 4 coverage

5. Android invasion

A year ago all the fanboy fights were between iPhone and BlackBerry (see Kevin, CrackBerry). Then came Droid and Verizon’s marketing muscle. That made Android mainstream, and Google’s Nexus One completed the one-two punch with tech geeks. Since then it’s been iPhone vs. Android in the trenches, on the blogs, and especially in the comments here on TiPb. While users on both sides will argue the pros and cons, the polish and the power, Android competition has inarguably kept the pressure on Apple and Google, ultimately providing better devices for all of us.

• Complete iPhone vs. Android coverage

6. Adobe wars

Apple and Adobe are at war on two fronts. While users have been complaining about the lack of Flash player support on iPhone since 2007, Adobe simply didn’t have the technology until betas began appearing in late 2010, and then… Apple chose not to support them. At the same time Apple changed their SDK license to prevent the use of cross-compilers like Adobe’s Flash CS5 Packager. Adobe accused Apple of locking developers to Xcode, preventing Adobe from locking them into CS5. Apple accused Adobe of years of complacency and intermediation. There’s still no Flash player support, but…

• Complete Apple vs. Adobe coverage

7. App Store reloaded

Whether it was Adobe’s complaints and the threat of governmental investigation, or whether Apple took one look at Epic’s Unreal 3 Engine running on iOS, 2010 represented another rare occurrence — Apple called a mulligan, a do-over. The SDK dropped the cross-compuler and location-based advertising restrictions, and not only that — Google Voice was actually approved for the iPhone, along with a slew of other apps that would never have been let in years or even months before. Apple also published guidelines for the first time, and the app approval process became considerably faster. Oh, and we got Infinity Blade courtesy of that aforementioned Unreal 3 Engine.

• Complete cross-compiler coverage

8. Gaming

Infinity Blade was only one of the gaming breakthroughs we saw this year. In addition to breathtaking graphics we also saw multiplayer online come our way via Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus. Real Racing combined eye-popping, Retina Display graphics and multiplayer for a truly knock-out combo. And on the casual side Angry Birds became a pop culture phenomena once again showing graphics, multiplayer, and even physical controls aren’t key to top tier title — game play is. Add to that the iPad, where many of the same games come to bigger, better life on a 9.7-inch screen and 2010 was the year Nintendo and Sony were put on notice when it came to iOS gaming.

• Complete iPhone and iPad game coverage

9. Jailbreak

Advanced users, power users, tweakers — call them what you want but they wanted functionality Apple was still unwilling or unready to provide. Whether it was unlocking from AT&T, one of the last remaining exclusive carriers, or the ability to theme with Winterboard, get glance-able data with LockInfo, get more convenient texting with BiteSMS, use AirPlay anywhere with AirVideoEnabler, toggle faster with SBSettings, or accomplish a hundred other useful, individualized things, despite the improvements in the App Store, Jailbreak continued unabated in 2010.

• Complete Jailbreak coverage

10. Verizon iPhone

This could easily have been story #1 given the amount of attention — and sheer quantity of rumors — that the Verizon iPhone generated in 2010. But that’s happened every year since 2007. What made this year different was the quality and sources of the rumors — the big guns of mainstream media no less. According to the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, BusinessWeek and others, the Verizon iPhone is finally a done deal and we’ll see it in early 2011 — no doubt making it one of the biggest stories for next year, no doubt.

• Complete Verizon iPhone coverage

Your top stories?

Well there they are, our picks for the top 10 iPhone and iPad stories of 2010. Did we miss one (or several) that you think were even bigger stories? Let us know what you think were the biggest stories of 2010, and give us your take on them in the comments!

Next Spring Steve Jobs will walk out on the stage and preview the latest and greatest enhancements to iOS 5, and there’s a lot we want to see that’s already available via Jailbreak. As most of you know, I am a full supporter of jailbreak. Every iOS device I’ve ever owned has been jailbroken and tweaked to perfection. iOS may be a very viable platform- but like any, it’s still severely lacking in certain areas.

Part of the reason I’m such a huge supporter of jailbreak is due to the fact that some great innovations and ideas tend to come from the jailbreak arena. They later trickle on down into later iterations of iOS. (Installer and Cydia were around before the official App Store). So in some ways, a jailbreaker is essentially a beta tester for Apple, without paying a $99 fee for a developer’s license. Not to mention you’ll get new tweaks and features a lot sooner than Apple releases a major beta version of iOS.

When the snow finally melts and Spring greets us, I’m hoping Steve walks on stage and includes some of these successful jailbreak tweaks and features in the next iteration of iOS. Jump on through to see what I’m wishing for (and of course, let us know your hopes for iOS 5 in the comments as well).

1. New Notifications System

This is first on my list for a reason. A lot of you are probably tired of hearing me whine about it by now. But the truth is, it’s one feature iOS has a terrible management system for. The fact that notifications just pop up over other notifications and when you dismiss them, the badge disappears, leaving no trace of that notification is pretty inexcusable.

A lot of us are networking fiends. I want a better way to manage my notifications. Jailbreak applications such as LockInfo have done wonderful things to supplement Apple’s lack of a decent way to manage notifications. I’m a huge supporter of LockInfo and its developer, David Ashman. Things like viewing notifications and events on your lockscreen is a breath of fresh air.

Infoshade is also a feature of LockInfo that I’ve fallen in love with. These are features Apple needs to take a hard look at, learn from them, and refine them in a way only Apple can do. In the mean time, here’s a video of LockInfo in action. You can also view our guide to LockInfo and setting it up as well.

2. Folder Enhancements

The jailbreak community has had the ability to create folders since long before iOS 4.0. Apple’s implementation of folders is hands down much better. The down side of Apple’s version of folders is that they crippled the feature from being as useful as it could be. I don’t know about you, but I have way more than 12 games. I’d like to be able to put them all in one generic games folder, in sub-folders, labeled by type of game.

Jailbreak applications such as Infinifolders and Folder Enhancer allow me to do this. I can also skin my folders however I want with different wallpapers (not a necessity but a nice little tweak). These two apps also remove the 12 apps per folder cap. Put as many in a folder as you like. You can have pages of apps and nested folders inside of nested folders if you choose. It allows me to be more organized and have only 1-2 pages on my springboard.

3. Texting Enhancements

While Apple’s text app is extremely easy to use, it lacks certain functionality that most users really want (and need). If I want to reply to a text message, I have to exit whatever I’m doing, jump into the texting app, send my reply, and then go back to whatever I was doing. If you choose to close the message, the badge disappears. If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably forget you had a text to reply to within about 5 minutes.

BiteSMS is a wonderful app that has been available to the jailbreak community for quite some time. It’s constantly being updated with new features and enhancements. It has replaced the default message app on my iPhone until Apple can learn how to implement text management in a more efficient way. I can create gestures in order to bring up a quick compose screen. It simply pops up, I fire out my text, and it disappears, never interrupting what I was doing beforehand.

Quick reply is also a much needed feature Apple needs to implement. Bite simply brings up a keyboard, you type in your reply, click send, and away your text goes in the background. Leaving you to continue doing what you were doing before, uninterrupted. Bite also has ways you can manage what dismissing a text does. If you’d like the badge to stay so you remember you have an unread message still lurking around, you can choose to use that feature. Setup on applications like Bite can be a bit daunting so this is one I’d really enjoy seeing Apple refine into an easy to use, beautiful enhancement.

4. Landscape Rotation

I know the iPhone is smaller than the iPad, but why can’t we landscape rotate? If I’m in a landscape application such as a game and want to bring the multitasking tray up, it’s sideways! I’d be happy with simply landscape multitasking here.

Jailbreak applications like SBRotator allow you to do this and further tweak how you want rotation to behave on your springboard. This isn’t a ground breaking feature, but definitely something I’d like to see Apple throw into iOS 5.0.

5. Theme Store

I know this is a long shot, and probably something we won’t see, but wouldn’t it be nice? We have an App Store, a music store, and a book store available to us. Why not a theme store? Most of the reason I say we won’t see this is because a lot of the file changes that have to happen in order to theme are file changes Apple doesn’t want you making. Alright, how about a compromise? Can I at least change the size of my icons? Shrink is a jailbroken application that allows me to simply change my icon scale. That’s it. I’ve got my page icons sized down so I can see more of my background. I’ve got my dock icons spaced out and a 5th icon dropped in. Stock icons are HUGE. I want a way to make them smaller by default.

6. Quick Toggles

SBSettings has been a god-send since it came out. Being able to turn off Wifi, 3G, or Bluetooth in just 2 gestures is extremely convenient. There’s also several add-ons for airplane mode and anything else you could think of. Digging through the settings panel is annoying.

I live in an area where 3G isn’t readily available. I can go 20 minutes in any direction and have full coverage though. So turning it off in my home area saves battery. Then when I’m out and about, I turn it back on when I need data. Digging through the settings panel becomes annoying, where SBSettings allows me to access these commonly used toggles quickly and easily.

A common settings toggle would be a nice addition to iOS 5.0. Here’s a quick video of SBSettings in action. We’ve also got a guide to SBSettings up as well.

7. New Quick Gestures

We all know double-tapping your home button brings up your multitasking tray. If you hold your home button, voice control settings pop up. Tapping your home button once brings up Spotlight search. That’s all great and fun, but Apple has no more buttons to work with. Tactile gestures are so 2005. Apple has a beautiful touchscreen device and the ability to add gesture shortcuts is endless.

Certain jailbreak apps make use of a gesture method called Activator. You can find your activator settings in your settings panel. You can choose any possible gesture you can think of and customize it to perform a certain task. On my iPhone 4, if I hold down on the status bar, my LockInfo information will drop down from anywhere. Whether I’m in an app or just on the springboard, I can see all my e-mails, notifications, and calendar events without ever it interrupting what I’m doing. If I slide my finger up from the bottom of the screen, quick compose for BiteSMS pops up. I can fire away a text and then continue doing what I was doing. Jailbreak developers have been taking advantage of Activator for years, why can’t Apple release an API that will let stock apps do the same?

Some people may argue this will take away from Apple’s stance on ease of use. Well, make it a setting. If users choose not to implement it, they don’t have to. More advanced users will choose to and they’ll be grateful.

8. Changing Fonts

I know this isn’t a life changing feature, but it’s a fun one! Apple has beautiful fonts available under Mac OS X, why not iOS? Most other devices allow you to change your system fonts, it’s time iOS allows us to do the same. I could see font downloads in the App Store becoming a huge success. If Apple doesn’t want to allow developers to create fonts and sell them in the App Store, at least give us a few new fonts to choose from in Settings.

Your picks?

I’m hoping to at least see a few of these Jailbreak features officially implemented in iOS 5. What are your guys’ hopes for iOS 5? Let us know!

Have an iPad and curious which are the best, most must-have reading apps you need to check out? Want to really get the most out of that big 9.7-inch screen? Well read on for TiPb’s top 5 most recommended readings apps for your iPad.

Note: Many of the reader apps are free but individual books, issues, etc. are available via in-app purchase. Those prices vary.

eBook readers: Kindle for iPad

Amazon’s Kindle eBook reader for iPad isn’t as good looking as Apple’s iBooks but simply has the largest library of titles and the most cross-platform support on the market. If you’re looking for a book chances are you’ll find it for the Kindle app, and if you buy it you’ll be able to read it on iPhone, iPad, Kindle devices, and other smartphones. Better still, if you stop reading it on one device, thanks to WhisperSync you can pick up right where you left off on another device. Universal app – download once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• iBooks from Apple which supports PDF, bookmarking, highlighting, and picture books. [Free - iTunes link]
• Stanza, purchased by Amazon is a favorite of those who like open, free eBooks and like to roll their own as well [Free - iTunes link]

Magazine readers: Zinio

Since neither Apple nor anyone else has been able to provide a real, multi-publisher iTunes-like experience for magazines, it’s hard to pick one app as the best. Zinio at least comes close, with support for a wide variety of magazines across a wide array of devices. We’re still waiting for our next-generation iMags but this will hold traditionalists over until we get there. Universal app – download once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Unfortunately, as mentioned, the iPad magazine market is a mess, with tons of apps from tons of publishers, mostly just selling repackaged InDesign exports. If there’s a magazine you love, search the App Store for it and there’s a good chance you’ll find an app for it, including everything from New Yorker to Popular Science to People.

Newspaper readers: Press Reader

Press Reader is much like Zinio, an attempt to provide a one-stop shop, in this case for newspapers. It boasts 1700 international papers in its library. Again, we’re still waiting for Apple to pick up the subscription ball with an iNews-type solution, but in the meantime Press Reader gets the job done. Universal app – download once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• The good news is, there are a lot of individual iPad newspaper apps. The bad news is there’s a lot of individual iPad newspaper apps. Inarguably most of the big names are there — Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today — but just not in any organized manner. So, once again, you’re left to search the App Store for your favorites.

Comic book readers: Comics

Comics by comixology is the closest thing to a unified comic books store on iOS. It helps that they also make the Marvel, DC, and Image apps using the same engine, but their own Comics apps is the only place to get stuff from all those publishers all in one place. The experience is the same across comics, Marvel, DC, and Image — browse or search for books, download free samples, buy issues. You create an account, so you can access your library from other devices, like iPhone as well. Unfortunately some storylines don’t have all issues available, and there are no bundled “trade paperback” style purchases… yet. Universal app – download once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Comic Viewer is for those who prefer to move their own CBZ and CBR files over to iPad. [$4.99 - iTunes link]
• Stanza for iPad also works with comic book files-ish. The dedicated readers are better but if you’re into multitaskers and are already using Stanza for eBooks, no you’re good to go [Free - iTunes link]

Web readers: Flipboard

Flipboard takes all the stuff you care about — articles and pictures shared by your Facebook and Twitter friends along with the latest relevant headlines and presents them, with content and social comments, in a gorgeous, tactile iPad interface. A recent update has even added Google Reader support for RSS. You can customize it to your hearts content and share your own comments back. It’s the closest we’ve come yet to a communal magazine. [Free - iTunes link]

• Reeder for iPad is a great way to keep up with your RSS news feeds. [$4.99 - iTunes link]
• Instapaper lets you save web articles to read later in a cleaner format. [$4.99 - iTunes link]

Your top apps?

So there you have them, our top 5 best iPad reader apps to get you going. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPad App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

Wondering how you’ll get through all the Christmas cooking, cleaning, shopping, and entertaining? Luckily there are lots of iPhone and iPad apps for that. Whether you need to take your turkey (or tofu!) up a notch, get the perfect gift for that special someone, or just survive the relatives festivities, read on for TiPb’s top 5 favorite, most recommended, most must-have iPhone and iPad apps to get you through Christmas and into the New Year.

Epicurious Recipes and Shopping List (Universal)

From the famed website of the same name Epicurious brings the best in seasonal recipes to your iPhone and iPad year round, but they really give it their all for Christmas. Currently featured categories include Christmas Cookies, Pies and Tarts, Christmas Dinners, Holiday Desserts, Christmas Cocktails, Edible Gifts, Holiday Sides, and Vegetarian Holiday fare. From full time foodies to those who only cook — and panic about it — this time of year, Epicurious is our go-to app to get our Christmas cheer started in style. Universal app – download once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• iTunes Holiday Cooking Apps [Various - iTunes link]

Gift Plan (iPhone)

Watching Homer Simpson race out the door, hop into the car, and speed off to the gas station because he forgot to buy that all-important Christmas gift may be funny to watch but it’s terrifying when it happens to you. Gift Plan makes sure it never ever does. While it works for birthdays, anniversaries, and pretty much any special occasion, it really shines over Christmas when everyone needs presents all at once. Just enter in who you have to buy for, include all-important metrics like your lady’s dress size or boss’ hobbies, add ideas as you get them, and then let Gift Plan do the heavy reminder lifting. And hey, if it’s too late and you missed a gift this year, whip out Gift Plan and add it in for next year. The app is cheap. Staying off the couch and out of the dog house is priceless. [$1.99 - iTunes link]

Amazon Windowshop (iPad)

Once you know what you want to buy, you still need to buy it. Online shopping offers tons of options from the megamarts to the mom and pops but Amazon is the reigning king of great selection, good prices, and fast delivery. With Amazon Windowshop, they’ve even made it more fun to get your shopping done. It’s a completely custom, totally optimized iPad interface and it makes browsing for items a fast, fluid experience. All the usual product categories are there, as are featured items, best sellers, new releases, most wished for, and appropriately for the season — most gifted. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, or don’t mind forking over the extra cash for next or second-day delivery, it can even rescue the last-minute shopper in you. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• iTunes Apps for Holiday Shopping [Various - iTunes link]

Scrabble (iPhone/iPad)

Scrabble, the classic word game, is available for both iPhone and iPad, though you have to buy each separately. Each works pretty much as you’d expect — you can play Scrabble on your iPhone or iPad with them, just the way you’ve played the board game for years if not generations. But here’s where it gets especially great for the holidays: If you have an iPad and an iPhone, or especially if a group of you have iPhones, you can use the iPad as the Scrabble board and each keep your individual letter tiles on your iPhone via the free Scrabble Tile Rack app. Then, where you’re ready to play your word, you can flick the tiles from your iPhone to the iPad board. It supports up to 4 friends and/or family members and while gimmicky it’s also a great. [$0.99 on sale - iPad iTunes link, iPhone iTunes link] [Free - Tile Rack iTunes link]

Also check out:

• iTunes Holiday Apps (Games section) [Various - iTunes link]

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Universal)

The classic Dr. Seuss book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas comes to both iPhone and iPad in interactive form. It can automatically read to kids, young and old, read but let you control the page turning, or let you read out loud all by yourself. You can also touch the pictures — all Dr. Seuss originals, of course — and their name will be written, and spoken out loud. There are a half-dozen or so Dr. Seuss books available in the App Store but this time of year none makes our tiny, cold little hearts grow more sizes than the story of the Grinch. Perfect to either help keep the kids busy or to read together for some quality time over the holidays. Universal app – download once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [$3.99 - iTunes link]

• iTunes Holiday Apps (Books section) [Various - iTunes link]

Your top Christmas apps?

So there you have them, our top 5 best iPhone and iPad apps for Chistmas. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone App and Games Forum and iPad App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

Just get a new iPad and curious which are the best, most must-have apps and games you need to install first? Want to really show off that 9.7-inch screen or take advantage of multitasking? Well read on for TiPb’s top 10 most recommended, most must-have iPad apps to get your started.

Social apps: Flipboard

Flipboard takes all the stuff you care about — articles and pictures shared by your Facebook and Twitter friends along with the latest relevant headlines and presents them, with content and social comments, in a gorgeous, tactile iPad interface. You can customize it to your hearts content and share your own comments back. It’s the closest we’ve come yet to a communal magazine. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Friendly for Facebook is the next best thing until Facebook makes an official iPad app. [Free - iTunes link]
• Twitter for iPad lets you get your tweet on with a futuristic interface and growing set of features. [Free - iTunes link]

Casual games: Angry Birds HD

Angry Birds HD takes the undisputed king of casual gaming, the breakthrough addictive puzzler in the best tradition of the genre, and paints it across the bigger screen. The premise is the same, evil green pigs have stolen your eggs and your birds aim to get them back — with slingshots, explosives, boomerangs, and other manner of weaponized avian fury. Kill all the pigs to clear a level, do it with style and earn the elusive 3-stars. It starts off easy but ramps up quickly as the minutes turn to hours, especially on the less confined iPad screen. [$4.99 - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Plants vs. Zombies HD for dark, relentless action. [$9.99 - iTunes link]
• Fruit Ninja is fast, frenetic slice-and-dice sword action for your iPad. [$4.99 - iTunes link]

Productivity apps: Documents to Go Premium

The bigger iPad screen makes for much easier document editing on the go, be it for business or school work. Documents to Go Premium lets you create, read, and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files with fairly good styling and functionality, and will even open Mail attachments and sync files via iTunes or with Google Docs, Dropbox, Box.net, iDisk & SugarSync for the ultimate in mobile accomplishment. Universal app – buy once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [$16.99 - iTunes link]

• Penultimate turns your iPad into a whiteboard/notebook hybrid perfect for meetings or brainstorming. [$3.99 - iTunes link]
• Good Reader for iPad is a powerhouse for PDF annotating and file management. [$2.99 - iTunes link]

Time management games: Smurf’s Village

Sure, the ultimate goal of building the best village is just the same as other games, but Smurfs’ Village also has a story line. After each level increase, there’s dialogue and a quest, and also mini games you can play to earn more experience. The graphics are great and the gameplay is smooth. Smurfs’ Village is free but some items require smurfberries which are available as an in-app purchase. Smurfberries can also be used to speed up the growth of plants and construction of buildings. Universal app – download once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Farmville brings your new or existing Facebook farm to iPad. [Free - iTunes link]
• Diner Dash: Grilling Green is an exclusive version of the iPhone favorite built just for iPad. [$4.99 - iTunes link]

Video apps: Netflix

Netflix for iPad has a horrible interface — their website awkwardly wrapped in an app — but offers so much TV and movie content that looks so good on iPad that it’s still more than worthwhile. Whole seasons of TV shows and movies roughly one month after the BD/DVD release dates can be streamed directly to your iPad and if you use Netflix on your iPhone, Apple TV, Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, etc. what you pause on one you can resume on the other. It does require a minimum $8 a month subscription and is only currently available in the US and Canada but it should be rolling out to more countries in 2011. If you have kids, the cartoons alone are worth it. Universal app – download once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Air Video transcodes AVI, MKV and most other video formats from your Windows or Mac PC on the fly and beams it right to your iPad. [$2.99 - iTunes link]
• ReelDirector lets you edit home video right on your iPad. Especially go when combined with Apple’s iPad camera it for easy import. [$3.99 - iTunes link]

Hardcore games: Infinity Blade

Epic’s Unreal 3 engine explodes onto iPhone with Infinity Blade, an on-rails sword fighting extravaganza with some of the best visuals we’ve ever seen. The story and gameplay are simple if not simplistic, you battle a series of monsters and their God-King over generations, growing your power, magic, and skill until you’re strong enough to win. It might sound repetitive but it quickly becomes as addictive as it is gorgeous. Universal app – buy once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [$5.99 - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus for some CoD-style fun. [$6.99 - iTunes link]
• Real Racing 2 for amazing cars and online play. [$9.99 - iTunes link]

Board games: Words with Friends HD

There’s an official Scrabble game for iPad but Words with Friends edges it out thanks to really good online play. It won’t let you play words that don’t exist, so there’s no bluffing or challenging strategy, but there is a built in chat feature so you can trash talk to your heart’s content. You can have multiple games against multiple friends going on at the same time, and push notifications let you know when it’s your turn make a word. [$2.99 - iTunes link]

• Monopoly HD, the classic from Boardwalk to bankruptcy. [$9.99 - iTunes link]
• Catan HD puts the legendary strategy game in the palm of your hands [$4.99 - iTunes link]

Utility apps: Remote

Remote puts your desktop iTunes library on your iPad and in your lap. Your can browse through, pick, and play all your music, TV shows, and movies, and if you have AirPlay supported video (like Apple TV) or audio (AirPort Express attached speakers, etc.) you can control which room in your house they play on. In addition to browsing it works as a full on touchpad remote control for Apple TV or iTunes (one multiple Windows or Mac PCs) and makes the sometimes arduous task of entering passwords or search terms a breeze. Apple’s Remote app is especially handy at parties.

Also check out:

• Find my iPhone, despite the name, also lets you geo-locate, beep, message, lock, and remote wipe your missing iPad — for free. [Free - iTunes link]
• LogMeIn Ignition is a remote desktop VNC client that lets you control your home Windows or Mac PC — or your office server room — from the comfort of a lounge chair. [$29.99 - iTunes link]

Educational apps: Starwalk for iPad

Starwalk brings you the universe of of constellations with gorgeous graphics and in spectacular detail. It includes digital compass support so you can literally hold it up to the sky and it will show you the stars you’re looking at complete with informational overlay that moves with you as you turn and turn around. You can also scroll back and forth through time to see stars as they’d appear at different dates. Starwalk also includes the phases of the moon, views from earth, and more. It’s the ultimate app for star gazers and future astronomers. [$4.99 - iTunes link]

• Articles for iPad is a better — and better looking — way to use Wikipedia, with support for tabbed browsing, bookmarks, fast skimming, and more. [$4.99 - iTunes link]
• TED lets you watch scientific, educational, technological, medical, and artistic videos from the renowned TEDTalks right on your iPad. [Free - iTunes link]

Reading apps: Kindle for iPad

Amazon’s Kindle eBook reader for iPad isn’t as good looking as Apple’s iBooks but simply has the largest library of titles and the most cross-platform support on the market. If you’re looking for a book chances are you’ll find it for the Kindle app, and if you buy it you’ll be able to read it on iPhone, iPad, Kindle devices, and other smartphones. Better still, if you stop reading it on one device, thanks to WhisperSync you can pick up right where you left off on another device. Universal app – download once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.[Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Instapaper lets you save web articles to read later in a cleaner format. [$4.99 - iTunes link]
• Reeder for iPad is the best way to keep up with your RSS news feeds. [$4.99 - iTunes link]

Your top apps?

So there you have them, our top 10 best iPad apps to get you started. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPad App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

What are the top 5 best, or just our most favorite, Jailbreak apps and tweaks for iPhone? That’s something we get asked a lot in comments, in the forums, and during the podcast chat. Cydia is filled with wonderful tools and applications to enhance your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. In this version, we’re going to look at the top 5 jailbroken apps or tweaks to help you make the best of your iPhone experience. Some of these may apply to other devices as well, but we’ll strictly be looking at the iPhone variants. Hit the break for what we think are 5 jailbreak utilities every jailbreaker should check out!

Winterboard

Winterboard is a must have if you intend to apply themes to your iPhone or customize the interface. Of course, you can always SSH and install themes on your own, but Winterboard will make almost everyone’s lives a lot easier. A lot of the times, if you download a theme that has a dependency on Winterboard, it’ll automatically install it for you. Once you’ve got Winterboard installed, browse Cydia for themes and UI tweaks you’d like to put on your phone. The great thing about Winterboard is that it works as a hierarchy. Say you download a theme but you don’t like the sounds. You can download a sound pack from Cydia you do like, check it in Cydia and drag it above the main theme. It will then override the theme’s default sounds with the ones you’ve selected. It’s an amazingly powerful tool that allows you to customize your iPhone just the way you’d like.

YouTube Link

SBSettings

SBSettings is more of a tweak than an actual app. It will allow you to add quick toggles to your springboard. You’ll swipe your status bar (or whatever gesture you prefer to configure with Activator), and it’ll show a drop down with several options. It also monitors your available memory, which is a nice added feature. It comes with several toggles built in such as wifi, 3G, bluetooth, brightness, and airplane mode. There are a lot of times I want to toggle some of these settings to save battery life. It’s much easier to swipe my status bar and tap the ones I’d like to toggle than to dig through the settings panel for each individual setting and flip them off.

SBSettings also allows you to hide apps on your springboard. I personally prefer to hide some of the Apple default applications that I never use such as stocks, weather, compass, and a few others. You can still spotlight search for them but it hides them on your springboard. There are also many other tweaks and add-ons for SBSettings in Cydia, including themes.

YouTube Link

Folder Enhancing Applications

Under 4.x, Apple gave us the ability to create folders. Yet again, Apple limited the functionality of this feature. You can’t create subfolders and you can only have 12 applications per folder. I have about 50 games installed on my iPhone at any given point. It’s a pain to have to create 5 folders just for games. Apps like Folder Enhancer and Infinifolders seek to solve this problem. They give you the ability to create sub-folders within a folder. Not only that, it removes the app limit cap. Now I can have several applications in one folder. And if I choose, I can create sub-folders. I have all my games in one folder, then divided by sub-categories such as RPG, Strategy, Action, etc. Folder Enhancer will allow you to change the folder background image as well.

Text Message Replacement or Add-On Applications

Although Apple’s default texting app is visually appealing, it’s still got a long way to go in terms of functionality. Enter apps like BiteSMS, iRealSMS, & QuickReply for SMS. These apps pick up where Apple has left us hanging. I personally prefer BiteSMS but iReal is also an acceptable solution. I wouldn’t recommend purchasing QuickReply for SMS as the dev has announced he isn’t updating it any further. It’s been rumored to go free any day now.

My biggest gripe with Apple’s default texting app is that it’s obtrusive and forces me to enter the app when I want to compose a text or reply to one. With apps such as BiteSMS, I can simply create a gesture that will bring up a quick compose screen. I can easily and quickly send a text without it interrupting my work-flow. When I receive a text, I can simply tap a reply button and reply without having to enter the texting app. BiteSMS is also highly configurable. You can configure options and tab through them on the QuickReply window. Options range from adding options such as reply, open, call, skype, delete, and many others.

BiteSMS and iRealSMS also have the option to show contact pictures in line with your text messages. This is a feature I wish Apple would have added to contacts and texting a long time ago. For now, apps like BiteSMS and iRealSMS will give you that functionality until Apple decides to.

MyWi and My3G

Network add-on applications are also a welcome addition to the jailbreak community. For those of us lowly users in the United States, AT&T likes to charge a ridiculous amount for tethering. MyWi allows you to turn your iPhone into a wireless hotspot. I use this feature frequently to tether my iPad. Until some carriers come to the realization that data is data and if we’re paying for it, we should be able to use it how we like, apps like MyWi and My3G are essential.

My3G allows you to trick your phone into thinking your on Wifi. This is useful if you’re in 3G and would like to download an app that is over 20MB. Simply turn on My3G and you’re iPhone will assume you’re on wifi and it’ll bypass Apple’s 20MB cap on network downloads. My3G also allows you to use FaceTime over 3G as well. There are several other apps available in Cydia like My3G so you can take your pick. Some of the others are 3G Unrestrictor, FaceTime over 3G, and Facebreak. You can choose from whichever suits your needs the best.

Your top 5?

As always, this is a list of our favorite jailbreak applications here on TiPb that we think all jailbreakers should at least check out. We know you guys have favorites too, so let us know in the comments! If you’re new to jailbreak or thinking about jailbreaking your phone, check out our guide to jailbreak terms and tools and if you need extra help, dive into our Jailbreak Apps Forum.

Just get a new iPhone or iPod touch and curious which are the best, most must-have apps and games you need to install first? Want to really show off that Retina Display or take advantage of multitasking? Well read on for TiPb’s top 10 most recommended, most must-have iPhone apps to get your started.

Note: This article has been updated for iPhone 4S — check out the new top 10 apps for iPhone post to see the latest picks!

Just switch to iPhone or Verizon iPhone? Also check out:

• Top 5 iPhone apps for BlackBerry switchers
• Top 5 iPhone apps for Droid/Android switchers

Social apps: Facebook for iPhone

Facebook is one of the most popular sites on the web, so any wonder it’s once of the most popular apps on iPhone? Sometimes we suspect people live almost entirely in the Facebook app — at least until the phone rings! Sure, you can go to Facebook’s mobile site in Safari but the app offers so much more functionality, from picture uploads to easy Facebook Places and Groups access, it’s earned its place on our home screens. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• LinkedIn for iPhone, for business users. [Free - iTunes link]
• Twitter for iPhone, for frequent tweeters. [Free - iTunes link]

Casual games: Angry Birds

Angry Birds is the undisputed king of casual gaming and an addictive puzzler in the best tradition of the genre. Evil green pigs have stolen your eggs and your birds aim to get them back — with slingshots, explosives, boomerangs, and other manner of weaponized avian fury. Kill all the pigs to clear a level, do it with style and earn the elusive 3-stars. It starts off easy but ramps up quickly as the minutes turn to hours. You’ve been warned! [$0.99 - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Cut the Rope for some physics puzzle fun. [$0.99 - iTunes link]
• Plants vs. Zombies for relentless action. [$2.99 - iTunes link]

Communication/IM apps: Skype for iPhone

Skype for iPhone lets you make Skype-to-Skype calls for free, and if you have Skype credits, Skype-to-phone calls very cheaply. Thanks to the latest version of iOS, it can also run in the background so it can answer Skype calls just like a real phone (though it will decrease battery life). They’re slow to update but they’re the standard for VoIP (voice over iP) and a great way to cut down on phone bills. [Free/credits - iTunes link]

• BeeJiveIM, if you just want chat, supports AIM/MobileMe, MSN/Windows Live, Yahoo!, GoogleTalk, Facebook, MySpace and Jabber [$9.99 - iTunes link]
• Google Voice for iPhone lets you access your calls, texts, and voice mail. [Free - iTunes link]

Time management games: Smurf’s Village

Sure, the ultimate goal of building the best village is just the same as other games, but Smurfs’ Village also has a story line. After each level increase, there’s dialogue and a quest, and also mini games you can play to earn more experience. The graphics are great and the gameplay is smooth. Smurfs’ Village is free but some items require smurfberries which are available as an in-app purchase. Smurfberries can also be used to speed up the growth of plants and construction of buildings. Universal app – download once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Farmville to bring your Facebook farm to iPhone. [Free - iTunes link]
• We Rule to build the perfect palace. [Free - iTunes link]

Productivity apps: Documents to Go Premium

While the iPhone’s screen is a bit small to handle all your business or school work, the ability to edit Office files on the go can be a lifesaver. Documents to Go Premium lets you create, read, and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files well enough to get the job done and will even open Mail attachments and sync files via iTunes or with Google Docs, Dropbox, Box.net, iDisk & SugarSync for the ultimate in mobile accomplishment. Universal app – buy once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [$16.99 - iTunes link]

• Good Reader is a powerhouse for PDF annotating and file management. [$2.99 - iTunes link]
• Evernote stores text, images, and audio for easy reference later. [Free - iTunes link]

Hardcore games: Infinity Blade

Epic’s Unreal 3 engine explodes onto iPhone with Infinity Blade, an on-rails sword fighting extravaganza with some of the best visuals we’ve ever seen. The story and gameplay are simple if not simplistic, you battle a series of monsters and their God-King over generations, growing your power, magic, and skill until you’re strong enough to win. It might sound repetitive but it quickly becomes as addictive as it is gorgeous. Universal app – buy once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [$5.99 - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus for some CoD-style fun. [$6.99 - iTunes link]
• Real Racing 2 for amazing cars and online play. [$9.99 - iTunes link]

Music apps: Slacker Personal Radio

Thanks to the latest version of iOS, Slacker (and Pandora) can now run in the background which means you can stream all the music you like while surfing the web, using turn-by-turn navigation, answering email, or pretty much anything you want. Slacker requires a subscription and is currently only available in the US and Canada. [Free - iTunes link]

• Spotify for streaming music in Europe. [Free - iTunes link]
• Shazam to figure out what you’re listening to. [Free - iTunes link]

Photography apps: Photo FX

The iPhone is the best camera because it’s the one you most often have with you, but sometimes the photos you take with it will be rushed, a little dark, a little light, or otherwise a step or two away from perfect. Photo FX and their hundreds of filters and special effects can help fix that. It can’t work miracles but it can make the difference between a shot you save and one you throw away. [$2.99 - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Hipstamatic brings old-school feel to new world pictures. [$0.99 - iTunes link]
• Flickr for iPhone lets you store and share all the shots you take. [Free - iTunes link]

Utility apps: Find my iPhone

Previously you had to pay for MobileMe to get Find my iPhone but now it’s free to everyone. Just download the app, set it up with your iTunes ID, and if you lose your iPhone (or it gets stolen) you can GPS locate it, make it beep or display a text message, remote lock it, and even remote wipe it so no one can get access to your personal data. Whether it’s under some papers on your desk, back at the restaurant you just left, or in some bad guy’s hands, Find my iPhone does just what the name says. Universal app – download once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [Free - iTunes link]

• Skyfire is a web browser that lets you watch some Flash videos on your iPhone. [$2.99 - iTunes link]
• RedLaser scans barcodes and finds you the best price online. [Free - iTunes link]

Location/GPS apps: NAVIGON MobileNavigator

Get full fledged turn-by-turn driving directions on your iPhone so you can keep your eyes where they belong — on the road. NAVIGON provides on-board maps which means it’s a huge download but it keeps working in areas where there’s no data coverage. You can buy regional, country, or continents at a time, and there are also options for live traffic updates, parking directions, and enhanced panoramic views of the surroundings. [Various - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Gowalla lets you “check in” to locations, keep track of your and your friends’ locations, and earn badges for being there. [Free - iTunes link]
• Yelp provides restaurant, gas station, bar, and pretty much any type of business location and recommendations. [Free - iTunes link]
  

Your top apps?

So there you have them, our top 10 best iPhone 4 apps to get you started. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

Today’s top 5 is directed towards iPhone users who travel for work, for fun, or for a little bit of both. From booking to preparing, finding your way to finding your food, and keeping yourself entertained while go, the iPhone really does have plenty of apps for all of that. Just like our other top 5 must-have iPhone app posts, all of these applications are available in the App Store. For the full run down, follow us after the break!

TripIt

Tripit [free - iTunes link] is an iPhone front-end to the free TripIt.com online service. With TripIt, once you book your online hotel and flight information, you just forward them the email and they automagically create a itinerary for you include flight times, airport maps, hotel maps, etc. Basically, all you travel has belong to them — but they’ll package and present it to you in a hyper convenient and consolidated manner.

If you’re a hardcore traveler, TripIt.com also provides a pro version with added functionality.

Alternative: WorldMate [free - iTunes link] or [$14.99 - iTunes link], recommended by Alli.

Appigo Todo

Making a list and checking it twice isn’t just for Santa’s once-a-year trip, it’s for everyone who needs to keep track of what to pack, where they want to go, and what they want to see. Appigo’s Todo Lite [free - iTunes link] is a great starting point for task and list manager, and if you need more, there’s a full version of Todo [$9.99 - iTunes] with a feature set that syncs with just about everything.

Alternatives: If you prefer to keep your lists in note-taking apps, check out our top 5 iPhone note apps roundup!

AT&T Navigator or NAVIGON MobileNavigator

If you’re driving rather than flying, turn-by-turn navigation and your sense of direction is anything other than perfect, turn-by-turn navigation is a must and there are two major types for you to choose from — online vs. on-device and subscription vs. paid outright.

AT&T Navigator [subscription - iTunes link] provides online maps and if you only need them for a summer road-trip through areas with good AT&T coverage, you can pay $9.99 grab it and go. (Powered by TeleNav, you can find other carrier-branded versions, like Rogers Navigator in Canada, in international App Store).

If you’re going off-grid, however, you’ll have to go offline and NAVIGON provides everything from the 1.5GB North America [$79.00 - iTunes link] to (for example) just the US East Coast ($29.00 – iTunes link]. They have a variety of international versions as well.

Alternative: whmurray recommends the built-in Maps app, which isn’t turn-by-turn but is GPS-enabled and powered by Google.

ZAGAT To Go

Yes, it’s complete overkill and yes, there are a numerous free/cheap ways to find restaurants with your iPhone but once in a while when you’re traveling you just want to do it in style and that’s ZAGAT To Go [$9.99 a year - iTunes link]. You get ratings and reviews from ZAGAT’s famous guide, and an offline mode so you can download it all to your iPhone, iPod touch (or iPad — it’s a universal binary!).

Alternative: Yelp [free - iTunes link] was suggested by Jamesus.

iPod

It’s built right into your iPhone and iPod touch (separated as Music and Video) and can keep you entertained with music, audio books, TV shows, movies, and podcasts everywhere from the airport to the airplane, hotel to restaurant. You can either transfer your own media from home before you leave or use the iTunes Store app to buy and rent the latest from Hollywood or download the best free content on the go. When Apple said the iPhone was the best iPod they’d ever made, they weren’t exaggerating. (Sure, the iPad gets 10 hours of video out of its battery, but it’s still not easy to pocket as the iPhone!)

Alternative: If you’ve got a SlingBox at home and want to keep up with your local sports teams or favorite shows while you’re out of town, SlingPlayer Mobile [$29.99 - iTunes link] will transport your TV to your iPhone anywhere you have a Wi-Fi or 3G signal.

Conclusion

Well there you have them, our top 5 iPhone travel apps. Did we many any of your favorites? Be sure to check out our iPhone App and Games Forum for more of our members’ recommendations, and leave yours in the thread — or in the comments below!

Today’s TiPb Top 5 is directed towards our iPhone and iPod touch wielding readers who love to take notes/memos on the go. Just like our other TiPb’s top 5 must-have posts, all of these applications are available in the App Store. For the full run down, follow us after the break!

Notes

Okay, all the applications are available in the App Store but this one — Apple’s Notes is built-in and comes pre-installed on every iPhone and iPod touch. And it’s not bad. Harkening back to the old PalmOS Memo app, you can add a note, start typing, hit Home, and the Note is automagically (and persistently) saved. That’s right, no explicit user action is needed — not even to name it as Notes just pulls the first line and uses that as the name. You can add new notes, edit old notes, and delete what you no longer need. You can also sync Notes via iTunes now (though not via MobileMe… get on that, Apple!)

Set up to look like a yellow, legal-esque note pad, the only drawback is the almost universally panned use of the Marker Felt font. If you can stand that, it’s simple but it’s free and you don’t even have to download it. For some users, that’s all they’ll ever need. For me, it’s perfect to jot down a hotel room, phone number, parking space, or anything else I want to remember and keep with me.

Simplenote (and Notational Velocity + DropBox)

Simplenote [Free - iTunes link] came to our attention via Daring Fireball‘s John Gruber and has stayed there thanks to the Notational Velocity awesomeness highlighted by 43Folders‘ Merlin Mann.

Simplenote by itself is just as the name implies, quick, clean, and highly usable. Instead of tethered iTunes sync over USB, Simplenote offers secure wireless sync to the cloud (their WebApp). You can keep using it free with fairly unobtrusive adds, or for $8.99 a year (less than $1 a month) you can go “premium” which removes the ads and gives you auto backup (versioning), create by email, an RSS feed, unlimited API use, and some cherries on top like early access to future features.

If you’re a note ninja, however, combining Simplenotes with Notational Velocity could dang-near blow your mind. Notational Velocity is a desktop client that offers modeless operation (search is your gateway), incremental search (start typing, it starts filtering), and keyboard-optimized operation. DropBox can store the data/files so you can enjoy not only iPhone to desktop, but cross-desktop sync as well. Getting things done indeed!

This is pretty much the nuclear option when it comes to note-oriented productivity, and the scaling from just Simplenote to the cross-platform sync solution is impressive. If you’re the high-order geek and notes are where your life lives, this combo can be hard to beat.

PhatNotes

PhatNotes [$9.99 - iTunes link] is a big, bold drought of note taking. On the surface, it’s covered in icons and colors. Under the hood you can organize “thousands” of notes in folders and groups. It also supports handwriting recognition so you can scribble your note on the screen and Phatnotes will OCR it and turn it into editable text. (A process which works pretty well (and yes, internet, it does OCR and print curse words without any censorship).

You can sync PhatNotes for iPhone with the PhatNotes for Windows desktop client (no Mac client… yet?). Given the price tag, PhatNotes will most likely appeal to hardcore on-device users who want to do as much as possible on their mobile, especially if they already use PhatNotes on the PC and see the sync as a bonus.

For those who like the handwriting recognition but don’t want the higher price and fuller organizational features, the same developer offers WritePad [$1.99 - iTunes link]

Appigo Notebook

Appigo’s Notebook [$4.99 - iTunes link] earns a spot immediately simply by virtue of its integration with the excellent Appigo Todo, but proves its own worth with clever offline/online note sync handling, password protection for secure notes, Toodledo.com sync, and TextExpander [$4.99 - iTunes link] support.

The user interface is simply gorgeous and the workflow is quick and easy. Notebook isn’t free but it’s not premium priced, it’s not bound to the desktop or the cloud, and if you’re invested in Toodledo, TextExpander, and/or Appigo Todo… well, you likely have it already! If you don’t, and you want a flexible yet elegant note-taking solution, give it a look.

Evernote

We’re not just including Evernote [Free - iTunes link] so that Chad (and Leo Laporte) don’t smack us around for not including, though that’s certainly a plus. Evernote is literally — and iconically — the big elephant in the note-space. Unlike the apps above, Evernote isn’t primarily focused on traditional, text-based note taking. It puts pictures and voice right up front alongside text. What’s more, it will make text included in your photos searchable (though it won’t OCR that text and make it editable — please ad?)

You can sync Evernote for iPhone with Evernote for Windows or Mac, or for other mobile devices running Android or BlackBerry OS. If the free functionality isn’t enough for you, you can “go premium” for $5 a month or $45 a year. Premium gets you 500MB of monthly upload bandwidth, support for Office docs, PDF, and videos, share and collaborate with other premium users, and SSL encryption.

Evernote is a great choice for people who want to include a wider range of material and basically scrapbook their notes as they go. It’s also especially handy for cross-platform users with different desktop and mobile platforms. If you’re not already using a different cloud-based or desktop solution, Evernote is something to check out.

Conclusion

iPhone and iPod touch users are fortunate to enjoy a wide range of high quality note apps, everything from the built-in to tons of App Store downloads (we barely scratched the surface here!), from free to premium, from cloud-based to desktop-bound. Which one is best for you will depend on what, if anything, you’re already using and what functionality matters most to you.

If we didn’t mention your favorite, or if you have any ninja or pro tips to share to take our iPhone note-taking to the next level, let us know in the comments!

Today’s TiPb Top 5 will be directed towards our iPhone and iPod touch wielding readers who love their classic, retro games. Just like our other TiPb’s top 5 must-have posts, all of these applications are available in the App Store. For the full run down, follow us after the break!

Mega Man 2

Originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1988, Capcom’s Mega Man 2 ranks in as one of the greatest retro games ever made. This iPhone version is a pretty close port of the Nintendo original. The game features the same simple graphics from the original version along with the 256×256 pixel playfield. Controls are handled via a virtual onscreen joystick and two buttons. The biggest negative that some of you may not like is the game’s difficulty — or lack there of. It’s pretty easy to get through this one, especially when compared to the original.

• Utilize virtual arcade controls to control the blue bomber.
• Rebalanced gameplay for the iPhone experience.
• Battle your way through 14 levels, and conquer 9 unique bosses, each with a unique weapon!
• Bringing the original classic NES game to the palm of your hand

Mega Man 2 [iTunes Link] is available now in the App Store for only $.99 but hurry as this price may soon change!

Earthworm Jim

Initially released on Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo back in 1994, Earthworm Jim broke new ground in 16-bit gaming and we are happy to say the Gameloft iPhone version holds up pretty well. No corners were cut with this one as everything that makes the original a classic is here. — nice crisp graphics, excellent sound and good controls.

• Run, gun, swing from hooks with your head, launch cows, bungee jump, rocket through speed levels and more!
• Face 12 types of enemies and 9 bosses.
• 4 different styles of gameplay: Side-scrolling run & gun, space racing, bungee jumping and underwater levels
• 10 original environments divided into 16 levels
• 4 levels of difficulty, including the challenging mode of the original game
• The re-mastered cult soundtrack
• iPod library access to play your favorite tracks while playing the game.

Earthworm Jim [iTunes Link] is currently available in the App Store for $4.99.

Myst

Myst was one of the first games to be put on a CD-ROM in 1993 and back then it simply awed gamers around the world. With the iPhone version of Myst you not only get an exact replica of the original but you get it improved graphically. Yes, the iPhone version of Myst is visually more impressive than the PC/Mac counterpart.

• All the original Ages & gameplay
• High quality images (better than original Myst)
• Full music & sound effects
• Original movies & animations
• Auto-save (when quitting or phone call)
• “Bookmark” system to save & restore progress
• Swipe to turn
• Auto-zoom in certain close-up areas
• Quick access to hint guide
• Works with iPhone 3G, the original iPhone, and iPod touch.

Myst [iTunes Link] is available in the App Store on sale for $4.99.

Golden Axe

Sega’s 1989 classic 16-bit game Golden Axe is available for your iPhone. Those of you familiar with the original will feel right at home as it’s a exact replica of the Genesis version. You pick one of three characters -a powerful Fighter, a female Amazon, and a mighty Dwarf. Each have different strengths and magical powers, and your mission is to battle through dark castles, on the back of a giant turtle, and even on the wings of an enchanted eagle to challenge the Death-Adder. Along with your sword and axe, you can hop on the backs of the Bizarrians and use their fierce attacks like fire breath and tail whips.

Those of you who do not own a iPhone 3GS may want to avoid this as there are reports of it being a bit sluggish on the older models.

Golden Axe [iTunes Link] is available in the App Store for $4.99.

Secret of Monkey Island

This remake of the 1990 classic PC title Secret of Monkey Island weighs in at a hefty 351MB and it is worth every single byte. If a brilliant story, great visuals and good controls are what you look for in a game, this one’s is for you. Some reviewers complain about the controls but we did not have any major gripes. Sure they could be improved but this very well may be the best version of this LucasArts classic.

• An all new re-imagined contemporary art style
• Complete voice over by members of the original Monkey Island™ franchise cast
• A re-mastered musical score using live instruments
• Plus, scene-for-scene hot swap to seamlessly transition between Special Edition and Classic modes at anytime

Secret of Money Island [iTunes Link] is available in the App Store for $7.99.

Have a classic retro game you would like to add to this list? Please share it with other readers in the comments below!

Today’s TiPb Top 5 will be directed towards our iPhone and iPod touch wielding readers who love racing games, and It’s a follow up to last years TiPb Grand Prix. Just like our other TiPb’s top 5 must-have posts, all of these applications are available in the App Store. For the full overview, follow us after the break!

Real Racing

I am biased, this is without a doubt, my favorite iPhone racing game. If you like simulation-style handling in your racing games, you will love this game. There are no real cars (other than the Volkswagon GTI) or courses. However, the attention to detail in-car and on the track is the best you will see on the iPhone. Now, with a new lower price [$4.99 - iTunes Link], you can’t go wrong with Real Racing!

• 4 classes
• 12 tracks
• Local Multiplayer
• Video replays on YouTube

Asphalt 5

Looking for a deep arcade racer on the iPhone? Look no further than Asphalt 5! There are plenty of “real” cars to choose from and lots of tracks. You can earn the ability to customize the look of your car too. The action is fast and pure arcade. The graphics have a “glow” to them, literally but are still good. Looking for an adrenalin rush, this is it! [$6.99 - iTunes Link]

• Over 30 real-world cars
• 12 tracks
• 8 different racing events
• Local Multiplayer

Rally Master Pro 3D

If you like the challenge of rally racing, then this is the only rally game to get in the app store! Plenty of cars and over 27 varied tracks! The controls seemed a little sluggish to be using the accelerometer, but I got used to them. Your car takes real-world damage as you drive (in one instance my hood flew off!) and you can repair your car in-between races. The weather simulation is great in the game too; rain and snow, and a voice navigator, it’s all there! [$4.99 - iTunes Link]

• Variety of game modes
• 27 varied tracks
• Weather enhancements
• Online leaderboards

Need for Speed Undercover

NFSU was one of the first games to have “next-gen”graphics on the iPhone. These graphics still hold true today! There are some fun innovations to like a slo-mo bullet time and auto-acceleration. You have some nice customization features for your car from spoilers to ground effects, not to mention color and vinyl. There is also a storyline to keep things interesting! $4.99 – [iTunes Link]

• 20 real cars
• 8 race modes
• Performance upgrades
• Slow-motion effects

2XL ATV Offroad

Looking for something different? ATV Offroad might be for you! smooth framerate and killer graphics make this one a keeper! The standout feature in this racing game is the ability to do tricks and achievements! Tricks can be done by tilting the device forward and backward while combining 6 preset stunt moves accessible on the screen. Couple this with some local Wi-Fi multiplayer and let the good times role! [$7.99 - iTunes Link]

• 16 tracks
• Career mode with achievements
• 8 opponents on screen
• Local Multiplayer

Conclusion

All of these game are great and well worth the price of admission. However, for what it has to offer, I have to go with Real Racing as my winner this year. I prefer the “real” style of racing. Though, it is not Gran Turismo, for a mobile game it is close enough for me. If this game was not available, second place would go to Asphalt 5. NFSU is close, but Asphalt ups the anti with its Burnout-like gameplay.

Winner: Real Racing

There you have it, TiPb’s Top 5 Racing Games and our 2009 Grand Prix Winner. Did we miss any of your favorites? Overlook any killer racers? Drop us a comment and let us know your list, and your winner!

Today’s TiPb Top 5 will be directed towards our iPhone and iPod Touch wielding readers who love photography. Just like our other TiPb’s top 5 must-have posts, all of these applications are available in the App Store. For the full overview, follow us after the break!

Photogene

Today’s first application is Omer Shoor’s photo editing app Photogene. If you’re looking to do some serious photo editing with your iPhone, Photogene is the app for you. Whether you want an app that auto edits for you and has special effects or you want full control over every aspect of the editing process, Photogene does it all!

• Correct color distribution, brightness, color temperature, exposure and contrast
• Gamma correction
• RGB Balance
• Special effects
• Customizable Frames and Frame effects
• Text bubbles

Photogene is available for $2.99. [iTunes link].

DSLR Camera Remote Professional Edition

Are you an aspiring or professional photographer with a Nikon or Canon DSLR? DSLR Camera Remote displays what your camera sees on your iPhone or iPod Touch and allows you to remotely control your camera’s shutter release and settings. This app is ideal for studio photography, self portraits, and awkward angles. Even though you are restricted to using this app on WiFi, when comparing it to the price of professional remotes, DSLR Camera Remote is a must-have for photographers with a supporting camera.

• Remotely fire your DSLR over any WiFi network (ad-hoc ok)
• See through your camera’s viewfinder with LiveView mode and focus remotely
• Remotely control camera settings like aperture, white-balance, and shutter-speed
• Auto Bracketing, burst, and intervalometer modes

DSLR Camera Remote Professional Edition is available for $19.99 [iTunes link]

Panorama

Next up, we have the excellent panoramic application Panorama. Similar applications require the user to have skill in aligning photos for the final stitching to look good, but not Panorama! The stitching algorithms built into Panorama are very sophisticated and do an amazing job at fixing a bad alignment job. So if you’re interested in taking beautiful, high quality panoramic shots, be sure to pick this one up!

• Sophisticated stitching algorithms
• Take individual photos as portrait or landscape
• Add photos to the left or right
• Auto brightness/exposure corrections

Panorama is available for $9.99 [iTunes link]

TiltShift Generator

Photographers will often shoot photos with a shallow depth of field to make their subject stand out, but the iPhone’s camera is rather limited in this regard. With TiltShift Generator, you can add a very natural blur to your photos to bring non-subject matter out of focus and adjust contrast and saturation to really make your photos pop. Look no further than TiltShift Generator to satisfy your depth of field generating needs.

• Create “retro miniature pictures”
• Radial or linear Blur
• Edit contrast and saturation
• Vignetting
• Direct email and Twitter support

TiltShift Generator is available for $0.99 [iTunes link]

ColorSplash

Have you ever wanted to add a Sin City feel to your photos with only specific details in color? With ColorSplash you can! This technique is what’s known as selective desaturation and with 4 different brush types and a mode to clearly see the boundaries between black & white and color, ColorSplashis an excellent choice to give your photos that dramatic look.

• Give photos a dramatic look by keeping chosen details in color
• Use your finger as brush
• 4 different brush types
• Share with Facebook, Flickr, or Twitter
• Alternate mode that shows colored regions in red to easily see boundaries between black & white and color.

ColorSplash is available for $1.99 [iTunes link]

Conclusion

There you have it, TiPb’s Top 5 Must-Have iPhone photo apps. Did we miss any of your favorites? Overlook any killer photo apps? Drop us a comment and let us know your list!

For today’s TiPb Top 5, we are catering to all of our iPhone and iPod touch wielding readers who enjoy sports games and sports apps. Just like our other TiPb’s top 5 must-have posts, all of these applications are available in the App Store. For the full run down, follow us after the break!

Madden 2010

Today’s first game worth a mention is EA Mobile’s Madden 2010 and for good reason. The Madden football series is the #1 selling football game in the history of video games. It does not get any better than this, with crisp graphics, great controls, and amazing sound. If you are looking for the most detailed and intuitive football game on your iPhone, look no further.

• Dominate the field with rosters packed with your favorite NFL players from all 32 licensed teams.
• Play in authentic stadiums against life-like players on real NFL teams.
• Use touch controls to draw hot routes for passing plays, exclusive to Madden NFL 10.
• Play a quick one-off game, or try the robust season mode, which features in-depth trades, stats and individual player rewards.
• Detailed roster management gives you full control over depth charts, cross-team trading, and access to huge free agent pools.

Madden 2010 is available for $9.99. [iTunes Link]

FIFA 10

Can EA Mobile do any wrong when it comes to sports games? Just like with Madden, FIFA 10 provides you with top notch graphics, control, and sound. This is a must buy for any soccer fan.

• The only fully-licensed football game on the App Store – Real players, real teams & real leagues. No other football game can compete in terms of authentic rosters of players that mirror those of 2009/2010 teams across the globe.
• Includes the incredibly innovative Be-A-Pro mode from the console series – Create your own player and track his career through the lows of domestic football to the potential highs of European and international competition.
• Tournaments – 20 different licensed tournaments and cup competitions from around the world
• Unmatched range of passing – Shorts passes, lobs, long passes and through balls all available through an incredibly simple system of two-button controls
• Responsive shooting system – enabling the user to shoot from distance with accuracy as well taking the ball past defenders and finishing with that touch of class
• Full sound effects including Audio Commentary – Using the reknowned commentary from UK premier league announcer Clive Tilsley

FIFA 10 is available for $9.99. [iTunes Link]

Super K.O. Boxing 2

Next up we have one for all of you out there who are fans of Mike Tyson’s Punch Out on the original Nintendo Entertainment System, Super K.O. Boxing 2. Those of you looking for a simulation boxing game may want to skip this all out arcade action game but it is hard not to like this games great graphics and animation. Add the slick controls and you have an addicting arcade boxing game that is worth every penny.

• Each opponent has their own personality and moves
• Unleash devestating hook punches, dizzy knock downs and charged super punch combos to knock your opponent out.
• Circuit, versus, challenge, and endurance mode.

Super K.O. Boxing 2 is available for $4.99. [iTunes Link] [Free Demo]

ESPN Radio

Need a way to listen to your ESPN radio on the go? ESPN Radio is just the app for you. Listen to live, crystal-clear radio streams from more than 15 of your favorite ESPN radio stations from across the country directly on your iPhone/iPod via Wi-Fi or 3G. Even better, you can listen live while surfing the net, checking your email, etc… Since the audio stream runs off of Quicktime there is a background mode.

• LISTEN LIVE to live play-by-play broadcasts of your favorite college football games!
• LISTEN to more than 35 ESPN Radio podcasts right from your iPhone or iPod Touch, including the B.S. Report with Bill Simmons, Pardon The Interruption, Around The Horn and Fantasy Focus.
• LISTEN on demand to “SportsCenter” — updated every 20 minutes!
• LIVE scores and news feeds of your favorite NFL, MLB, NHL, college and professional sports teams.
• LIVE scores and news feeds of your favorite NFL, MLB, NHL, college and professional sports teams.
• TEXT CONNECT — send a message directly to the studio of your favorite ESPN Radio show.

ESPN Radio is available for $2.99. [iTunes Link]

Sportstap

Sportstap is the ideal app that enables you to get all of your scores and game details along directly on your phone. You can check out standings, team stats, player stats, and get updated scores and data every minute for all of your favorite teams. Sure there are a ton of other apps available that can do the same but not many of them send game update push notifications directly to your device. MLB, NFL, and NCAA Football. NHL, NBA, and NCAA Basketball are current sports that you can have alerts for. There are a few others sports apps that support push notifications but none of them pushed more timely than Sportstap. So if you like updates in real time, this is the way to go.

Sportstap is available for free. [iTunes Link]

Conclusion

There you have it, TiPb’s Top 5 Must-Have iPhone sports apps. Did we miss any of your favorites? Overlook any killer sports app? Drop us a comment and let us know your list!

On tap for today’s TiPb Top 5, we thought we’d cater to all of our iPhone and iPod touch wielding readers who enjoy action games. Just like our TiPb’s top 5 must-have board games, all of these games are available in the App Store, this time under categories – games – action. And even better, all of them are very reasonably priced. For the full run down, follow us after the break!

DOOM Resurrection

This first game is based off of one of the first first person shooters (FPS) ever, DOOM. DOOM holds a place in the hearts of every hardcore FPS fan out there. With DOOM Resurrection, Id has raised the bar for all other developers to follow with their reincarnation of a classic action game. With a fresh story line, great visuals, and simple yet very effective control scheme this is one game you’ll want to take a look at.

• Advanced graphics engine designed from the ground up to take full advantage of the power found in Apples mobile devices
• Wield an arsenal of heavy-hitting weapons to defeat a variety of hideous monsters and bosses
• Innovative controls for fast-paced and accessible first-person action
• An all-new chapter of the DOOM saga that new players and long-time DOOM fans can enjoy

DOOM Ressurection is available for $6.99. [iTunes Link]

Wolfenstein RPG

This next game just so happens to have a lot in common with DOOM Resurrection – it too was created by Id and is based off of a classic first person shooter. Wolfenstein RPG is not your typical FPS or RPG for that matter, it is a perfect combination of both genres – FPS and RPG elements are blended in nicely with great controls and sharp graphics. And don’t forget, the chicken-kicking mini-games are here…

• Arsenal of 16 weapons including Spiked Brass Knuckles, a Submachine Gun, and Dynamite. Tap and swipe to punch, kick, and shoot. Use the accelerometer to take down the Axis Agents from a distance with a powerful sniper rifle.
• Fight your way through 9 levels and 8+ hours of Wolfenstein action!
• High-res graphics suspended in a 3D world immerse you in the mayhem.
• Face 32 enemies you’ll love to vanquish! Battle elite soldiers, zombies flaming skeletons, and other bizarre Id creations.

Wolfenstein RPG is available for $2.99. [iTunes Link]

Modern Combat: Sandstorm

Gameloft has really stepped up into one of the leading developers for the iPhone platform with 35 game titles. Their latest game, Modern Combat: Sandstorm, definitely does not disappoint. When I played Modern Combat: Sandstorm I immediately thought of the popular console franchise Call of Duty. And that alone speaks volumes.

• Use a wide range of authentic, advanced weapons (2 assault rifles, sniper rifle, RPG, shotgun, submachine gun, light machine gun, heavy machine gun mounted on a moving 4X4, explosive grenades, flashbang grenades, radiation detector) enriched with a leveling system that allows the player to progressively unlock weapons and use munitions from fallen foes
• Highly polished 3D graphics provide full immersion into the military experience and high intensity combat
• 10 missions featuring varied and highly polished Middle Eastern environments (city, hospital, sewers, port, lab, training camp, etc.)

Modern Combat: Sandstorm is available for $6.99 [iTunes Link]

Alive 4-Ever

For those of you who enjoy a good top-down survival shooter once in a while, Alive 4-Ever is a good pick for you. The object is simple – shoot and kill any zombie that gets in your way. Fight your way through 30 levels whether it’s slaying a certain amount of zombies or a simple rescue mission, the action never comes to a halt.

• 16 different types of weapons, which include AK-47, M16 etc. Players can also buy their favorite weapons with the gold they get after each mission. You would have to get the strongest weapon fast enough to save all the survivors!
• Alive 4-ever uses the Bluetooth function of OS 3.0 to connect you with your friends and families so that completing missions has never been easier!
• Alive 4-ever uses the best graphics with excellent battle, visual, sound and music effects that runs smoothly despite yours is an iPhone or iPod touch.
• Alive 4-ever provides 30 missions for players, which includes eliminating a given amount of zombies, rescuing survivors in a given time frame, getting vaccines, boss battles, etc.

Alive 4-Ever is available for $.99. [iTunes Link]

Resident Evil Degeneration

Capcom’s Resident Evil series has proven itself to be one of the most successful video game franchises of all time. Resident Evil Degeneration is a survival horror game based on the CG-animated movie of the same name. With that eerie Resident Evil feel along with great visuals and a slick control system you are bound to have an excellent survival horror experience.

• Use your in-game PDA to collect intel, manage inventory and access maps.
• “Laser targeting” allows the players to make aimed accurate shots.
• Backgrounds, character models and objects are all rendered in full 3D.
• Accelerometer features: Shake iPhone to “Shake of Zombie” melee attacks. Tilt back device to reload.

Resident Evil Degeneration is available for $6.99. [iTunes Link]

Conclusion

There you have it, TiPb’s Top 5 Must-Have iPhone action games. Did we miss any of your favorites? Overlook any killer action game? Drop us a comment and let us know your list!

Nothing makes people more paranoid than a shiny new gadget, especially if it’s an expensive-to-replace shiny new iPhone 3GS gadget fresh from Apple. Cases can’t work miracles, but they can go a long way towards helping you avoid dust and dirt, nicks and scratches, and — depending on how hardcore you go — cracks and breaks. Oh, and they can also stylize your iPhone beyond Apple’s iconic black and white, if that’s how you want to roll.

We’ll be rounding up some accessories for new iPhone owners in the coming days, and because we’re just as paranoid, we’re starting with cases.

Luxury Leather: Sena Elega Case

Jeremy loves the Sena Elega Pouch Case ($39.95 – TiPb Store link). Napa leather on the outside, velvet on the inside, with shock-absorbing padding and a belt clip, this top loader also has cut-outs so your speakers don’t get muffled when listening with the case on.

Get a Grip: Seidio Innocase II

Dieter still likes the grippy goodness of the Seidio Innocase II [$29.95 - TiPb Store link] because, let’s face it, the plastic backing of the iPhone 3GS might not blend, but it doesn’t exactly stick to the hand either. With a soft-touch, “rubberized” finish, and ultra-slim profile, the Innocase II provides just enough protection without getting in your way about it.

Layered Protection: OtterBox Defender

Casey called this one protection without compromise, and certainly if you need to keep your iPhone 3GS safe come rain or shine (light rain, not the pool!), Otterbox Defender [$44.95 - TiPb Store link] brings it like armor. Rather than chain and plate, however, a polycarbonate sheet covers the screen, a polycarbonate skeleton provides crush-protection, and a silicone skin finishes off the impact-proofing.

Charge and Go: Mophie Juice Pack

James still won’t leave home without the Mophie Juice Pack ($99.95 – TiPb Store link). What with push notification, video shooting and sharing, and faster, better processors, the iPhone 3GS is even harder to put down, and that means even harder to keep charged. If you need a case, and want to keep going, and going Mophie Juice Pack can give you 6 additional hours of 3G talk time and 8 hours of video watching.

More than Skin Deep: BodyGuardz

If you want some of the protection but none of the look or bulk of a case — high-tech applications to the rescue! Made from the same material that is used to protect the front of automobiles from stones and other abrasive elements, BodyGuardz [$24.99 - TiPb store link] is transparent, tough, and come two to a box should you need to protect more than one iPhone, or want a spare just in case.

Conclusion

From almost not-there, to full on hasmet suit-like coverage, from clear to colorful, if you want a case to protect or pretty up your iPhone 3GS, there’s a wide variety of forms and fashions to fit your needs.

[You're tempted. We know you are. We are too. Even with the App Store, Jailbreaking is the ultimate in iPhone forbidden fruit. So what will it take to push us over the edge? How about the top 5 killer Apps. Stuff Apple will never allow in the official store? Jeremy rounds them up for us below, and if you do decide to take the plunge, he has you covered with full tutorials on how to Jailbreak the iPhone 3G with Quickpwn for Windows PCs, Mac OS X, how to Jailbreak and Unlock the original iPhone 2G.]

Our forums have been buzzing lately with members asking “why should I jailbrake?” Well today TiPb brings you some of the very best reasons: the top 5 must have Jailbreak Apps!

What are they and what do they do? Read on after the jump!

1. Winterboard

For those of you who really want to trick out your iPhone’s user interface, look no further than Winterboard. Using the Winterboard you can apply whole skins to your device or just specific parts of it. The things you can customize include App icons, wallpaper, and even the statusbar, dock, etc. You can spend an entire day tweaking your UI to your liking. For the best guide I’ve seen for Winterboard, check out this link here.

2. BossPrefs

While you can remove Apps, WebClips, etc, from your device by just tapping and holding, then simply tapping the “X” icon, the built-in Apple icons are not removeable on your iPhone. This is where BossPrefs comes into play. Install it to get extra options for configuring your device, including “Poof!” a section where you can disable icons, even if they are fixed ones like iTunes or Weather.

3. Intelliscreen

This next little gem of an App was reviewed back in May by Casey. Have you ever needed to check your Mail but didn’t have time to thumb through your iPhone to check it out? Intelliscreen by Intelliborn allows for easy access to information on your iPhone lock screen, such as Mail and SMS messages, iCal dates, news stories, sports scores, and more. If you are a fan of widgets on your PC or Mac, or the Today Screen on Windows Mobile devices, you’ll love Intelliscreen.

4. Backgrounder

This App is one that I told you about this past week. It’s called Backgrounder, and it simply allows you to run official App Store apps in the background. Imagine that, the ability to multitask right on your iPhone! Try this app out, you will not regret it! Here’s how you use it:

You just press and hold the home key while running any application. After a few seconds, the Backgrounding Enabled pop-up appears. Release the home button and go about your business. Backgrounder automatically returns you to SpringBoard. To quit the background application, re-launch it from SpringBoard, then press and hold Home until the Backgrounding Disabled pop-up appears.

5. Categories

Categories allows you to create folders on your desktop. This gives you the ability to organize your home screens in ways far beyond anything Apple currently provides. When you add an App to a category, it is taken from the Springboard list so that it no longer shows up on the home screen. When you remove the app from the category it is returned back to the Springboard. In other words, instead of scrolling from screen to screen, you can have one screen containing all of your App folders for instant access to what you want. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me. Below is a picture of what a games folder would look like when opened from the springboard.

*Since Categories edits system files, be sure to check out the Help section before using this App to avoid any complications. It gives you step by step directions.

Conclusion

So there you have it, you wanted to know the top 5 Apps out there and TiPb comes through and gives you the answer! This list of must-have jailbroken apps should keep you busy for quite some time along with giving your iPhone a fresh new look! For more information about jailbreaking please visit our jailbreaking apps forum, our members are always willing to help you out!

Sure, on the surface Google’s Android seems more like a shot through the heart of Windows Mobile — or the head of Palm’s Linux-based OS 2.0 aspirations — but while those platforms enjoy their own historical and market share, it’s Apple’s iPhone that has all the mind share of late. That means, despite Google’s CEO being on the Apple Board of Directors, Google’s Maps, Search, and other services having a prominent place on both devices, and — let’s face it — Google’s full on tech-crush for the iPhone — no one is going to hesitate to pit the two systems head-to-head. Including us!

So, what advantages does each one have? What drawbacks? Here they are, in our opinion: the top five iPhone vs. Android Wins and Losses… after the break!

How Android Wins

1. Hardware Options

Unlike the singularity of the iPhone, Android follows the current Windows Mobile model (and old Palm OS model) of creating a software platform meant to be implemented by a wide range of different manufacturers across an even wider range of hardware (some speculate beyond even the phone paradigm). Want a keyboard? Touch? Flip? Yellow racing fins? No problem, take 1 from column A and 2 from column B. After all, people tend to be diverse if not unique, and no single device can possibly meet the needs of each and every consumer. By letting manufacturers offer hardware choices, Android wins.

2. Developer Freedom

While the iPhone App Store has been a million (going on billion) dollar success, it has also been an endless source of controversy rooted not only in Apple’s desire to control seemingly every aspect of ecosystem, but the capricious — and callous — way in which they’ve thus far chosen to exercise that control. By contrast, Google is offering what amounts to a totally free Marketplace where developers can pretty much create and deploy anything, limited only by their innovation and determination. Podcaster? Fine. Mailwrangler? Okay (even though it likely duplicates Google’s built-in Gmail client). It’s the classic Open Source argument. (Heck, even the OS itself is Open Source!) By being free as in speech (though Google is wealthy enough to spot developers at least a few beers as well!), Andorid wins.

3. Killer Cloud Connectivity

Let’s face it, the cloud is the future, and while Apple has struggled (cough-MobileMe-cough) with that future, Google owns it. Google Search. Gmail. gCal. Google Docs. Google Maps. YouTube. Knol. Chrome. And the list goes on and on (and on). If they can flip the switch and truly, seamlessly integrate everything, not only between applications but across desktop, laptop, and handset, it will make for perhaps the most compelling offering ever on the market. By not being the next Windows-class platform (which superseded the earlier Mac), but by potentially being something even greater, Android wins.

4. DRM-Free Media

The iPhone is hooked into the largest and most successful media fountain in the business, iTunes. The record labels and Hollywood, however, fearing Apple will become another Walmart, able to dictate terms (taken, no doubt, to a Jobsian extreme) have with the exception of EMI, denied iTunes the higher quality, DRM-free music they are willing to give to competitors like Amazon. Google, despite being Amazon’s rival in the data-center-driven cloud computing space, is leveraging Amazon MP3‘s musical advantage for Android. No word yet on whether they’ll ever break the DRM-free TV and Movie barrier (not when Hollywood is cutting off so many noses to spite that face), but for as far as it goes, by providing consumers with content free of DRM that never stopped the real pirates, but made everyday use difficult to the point of exasperation, Android wins.

5. Sergey and Larry

Steve Jobs is the archetypal benevolent dictator, and a divisive one at that. Google’s founders, by contrast, enjoy a shinier, happier public image. Whether it’s their “don’t be evil” motto or their willingness to let Google employees spend 20% of their time (1 day a week) working on solo “skunkworks” projects in the true spirit of innovation, (such as Sergey’s gleeful Android “hang time” app?), their youthful energy and enthusiasm powers the Google brand. By presenting a kinder, friendlier, and — arguably — funnerer corporate culture to consumers, Android wins.

How the iPhone Wins

1. Unified Hardware/Development

Controversies aside, the App Store has changed the face of application development and deployment (and how scary is it that this represents only one of the iPhone’s revolutions). Leveraging the ease of use and power of Cocoa, developers can create applications that will not only run on any iPhone (or iPod Touch) on the market, but be available for market (or for free), at the tap of a button, on each and every one of those devices. While Android developers will have to worry about whether some hardware has keyboards and some not, touchscreens or not (and what resolution?!), real headphones or USB adapters (really HTC? Really?) trackballs or accelerometers — never mind the endless snafu potential of any manufacturer or carrier making any changes they want to the Open Source OS — iPhone developers can “just work”. By providing a single, unified hardware implementation and the unlimited on-device marketplace that comes with it, the iPhone wins.

2. Best of Both Worlds

While Android enjoys the most complete integration with Google imaginable, we can’t forget that Google’s business isn’t making Smartphones. It isn’t Search either. It’s advertising. And to advertise, Google needs to be in front of (and holding on to) as many eyeballs as possible. This means Google needs to provide their services to the iPhone (and Windows Mobile, Palm, Blackberry, etc.) as well. So the iPhone gets Google Search, Maps, YouTube, and all the other Google applications they need anyway. What’s more, Apple gets to carefully craft their own unparalleled user interfaces and mobile technology on top of and into those Google Services. Google’s Android, however, gets nothing from Apple. By iPhone users getting the best of both the Apple and Google worlds, the iPhone wins.

3. Google Getting Slightly Less “Not Evil”

Apple can be smug, uncaring, and wrong-headed [redacteds], fair enough. But while Google professes “don’t be evil”, their growing size and power should be a concern to everyone who values privacy and security. Bottom-line: they know everything about you. You search for “very private personal issue”. They know that, and your IP, and can cross-reference it with everything else you’ve searched for, and mapped, and (with the GPS in your phone) whether you’re on the move. And their business is advertising. They own DoubleClick. Sure, Apple hooks into Google for Safari web search and maps as well, but on the iPhone you can at least choose not to search, or to search Yahoo!, and to turn off GPS. Maybe you can with Android, maybe not. Chrome has set a very poor precedent (no URL box, just search, means Google parses avery web address you type — never mind the ULA controversy). Given their shiny, happy facade, this makes them all the more terrifying. By the sheer nature of Apple’s business model being predicated on pleasing consumers enough to buy their hardware, and not slipping in advertising on the down low with little or no oversight or accountability, the iPhone wins.

4. iTunes International & iPod Ecosystem

For all the greatness that is Amazon MP3, it’s entirely USA-centric. Sure, for many people that seems like the whole world — but it’s not. While Big Media deliberately won’t give iTunes higher quality DRM-free music, the nature of international media rights is every bit as unfair to Amazon and their offerings. iTunes has had years to navigate this archaic quagmire, however, and while they’re certainly not everywhere yet, iTunes Stores are available to a huge number of consumers around the world. And unlike Android at launch, iPhone users in some areas also have TV (including NBC… again), Movies, and the rest of iTunes’ massive media content library available to them. Likewise, the Apple ecosystem is mature, providing everything from easy media conversion tools for personal content, to a plethora of accessories, to Apple’s full line of other hardware and software products. By providing such a vast, and vastly simple set of content and spherically-integrated supporting environment, the iPhone wins.

5. Steve Jobs

Call him Steve, El Jobso, Dear Leader, or an arrogant [expletive], Steve Jobs has proven time and again to have an uncanny knack for knowing “what’s next”. Not innovation in the strictest sense, Jobs instead takes futuristic technology and realized it for the masses — in whatever elegant shade of this and gorgeous material of that he knows is lust-worthy at that very moment. From the CLI of the Apple II, to the GUI of the Mac, to the portability of the iPod, to the multi-touch of the iPhone, Jobs more than anyone this generation has, over and over, pushed the boundaries of consumer technology and the entire industry around it. That’s why every Stevenote brings the internet to a grinding halt, and Android’s announcement barely registered a stutter on the tubes. You don’t dent the universe by committee (which Google’s Open Handset initiative and Android Platform most certainly are), and there’s no better proof of that than the achievements of Apple under the — admittedly dictatorial — guidance of Steve Jobs. By walking onto the stage at Macworld 2007 and pulling the jaw-dropping surprise of the iPhone from his pocket, and by keeping every consumer on the edge-of-their seats waiting for the next Stevenote, and the next “one more thing”, the iPhone won.

Conclusion

Every industry needs competition, and while we can’t help but worry about our friends over on the Windows Mobile and Palm platforms, we also can’t help but think, win or lose, Android will force the iPhone to up its game (and vice versa) as well. Either way, we consumers are the ultimate winners.

Agree? Disagree? Got your own top 5 wins for the iPhone? For Android? For both? Be sure to let us know!

In the wake of Bloomberg’s faux-pas to end all faux-pas’ last week, Forbes gives their list of the top 5 things they’d still like to see from a Steve Jobs run Apple. Sure, they tack on an unnecessarily morbid title, but at its core it’s an intriguing question: Macworld 2009 or 2010, what shiny new toys do we most want to see on the receiving end of a Jobsian “Boom!”?

Forbes includes, in ascending order, an iTablet, a TV, a remote control (not the tiny white one they already make — they want a Harmony killer), an eBook reader (Kindle Killer), and another paradigm shift in computing to follow the Apple II and Mac.

My list? Well, it would start with a hyper-miniaturized communicator that’s all but invisible, and makes whatever they used on the Berman-era Star Trek look old and lame. The Minority Report Cinema Displays and iMacs are high up there as well (though they’d need to keep the traditional inputs as well, lest my arms tire out before I finish blogging…) Location-based services that are truly useful would be nice: (Alert! You’re approaching mom’s house, she wanted help cleaning the gutters. Turn right to avoid…) Also, I’d like a real Apple TV, that does for the set-top what Apple’s done for the desktop, laptop, and palmtop. Time to move past hobby on that one, Mr. Jobs. (And it already has the ultimate remote — the iPhone/iPod Touch. C’mon!) But #1 on my list?

A truly integrated, location free computing experience. Bill Gates showed off the concept many years ago at CES, but I think only Apple could deliver it with any elegance or grace: I work on my iMac, pick up my iPhone (which has synced my entire environment, coordinated with the “cloud”), go to the office, and keep right on working on my MacBook as though it were the exact same machine. And more: stop over at a friend’s house and jump on her Mac Mini as though it were the same machine as well. No more location-locked environments or data. Back to my Mac becomes My Mac Anywhere, a truly MobileMe. (Though hopefully — for Jobs’ sake — with better branding…)

That’s the top 5 things I want from Steve Jobs’ Apple.

What’s yours?

No need for double-takes. You didn’t click the wrong link. Just breath, dig deeply, and stick with me for a moment. Yes, you really are still reading the iPhone blog.

For a 1.0 device, the iPhone knocked the ball — if not out of the park — soundly into the fence, and sent a complacent industry fumbling and flurrying to catch it. But no device, not even from Apple, could get everything perfect the first time at bat. Now, I’ve pretty much staked my turf here by playfully poking a little bit of fun at the competition but, truth be known, when they’re not wasting their time on iClones every platform and handset has some great — even killer — features to recommend it. In that spirit, here’s my top 5 list of what Apple should seriously consider stealing… er… learning from the competition if they want to hit a home run with 2.0 and beyond…

5. Blackberry’s Email Management

RIM is the undeniably #1 in smartphone market share, but they come in at #5 on my list for the simple reason that, while what they do well they do phenomenally well, as a platform I think that very maturity has led to little innovation, and hence little (and narrow) potential to mine for iPhone improvements.

That said, they are the email monster for a reason. With one major caveat, nobody does email bigger or better than Blackberry and while Twitter, IM, VoIP, video chat, and other technologies old and new battle it out for communication domination, email remains the mainstay of the mainstream, business and consumer alike, and in that regard Apple has something important to learn from Blackberry.

What Blackberry Does Right

Blackberry does email to the point where the two are almost synonymous. Push notwithstanding, when it comes to managing email, the Blackberry is a beast. It’s simply the best there is at what it does.

What Apple Could Do Better

RIM uses a centralized Network Operations Center (NOC) to handle all Blackberry messaging everywhere, providing true, near-instantaneous “push” to thousands and thousands of Crackberrians each and every moment. But here’s that major caveat: it’s a single point of failure. Outages, from carrier to regional to network-wide have increasingly plagued the service, as have privacy and security concerns.

With the upcoming 2.0 update, the iPhone will support the ActiveSync “push” technology Apple licensed from Microsoft. ActiveSync eschews the “one NOC to manage it all” and instead simulates “push” between local Exchange Server and mobile client — in this case, the iPhone. If someone else’s Exchange Server — even Microsoft’s in Redmond — goes down, it effects your iPhone service not one bit.

That just leaves the iPhone MobileMail app itself. Fairly easy to set up and use, it still remains a challenge to manage multiple accounts and messages. Better mass-mail handling, especially for important functions like delete, is imperative (and is rumored to be coming with 2.0 as well).

Beyond that, however, better organization is needed. A single, unified inbox, like the one on the desktop Mail.app would be a great first step, followed by the ability to hide selected, seldom-used IMAP folders to clear up some clutter.

Speaking of IMAP, since MobileMail can “see” IMAP folders for Calendar, Apple Mail To Do, etc. better integration with the iPhone Calendar and Notes application (and dare we dream — Task app?), seems natural given what’s been done in OS X 10.5 Leopard’s Mail.app.

And since the spammers seem intent on mail-bombing the internet back to the stone age, some client-side anti-spam filters would also be most welcome.

Taken together, these improvements would go a long way to making the iPhone king of the next email generation.

4. Palm’s Click Counting

We want powerful, we want beautiful, and — dangit! — we want drop dead easy to use. Great design is functional design, great user experience is intuitive, almost transparent experience. Apple nails this to a large degree. I’ve said it before, but my two-and-a-half year old godson can pretty much navigate his way around the iPhone, from pictures to camera to notes (his ABCs) to calculator (his 123s) which unbelievable ease and accomplishment. But there remain a few problem areas.

Palm OS, dinosaur that it is, has legendary ease of use. Rumor has it that early Palm developers, like co-founder Jeff Hawkins, literally counted each and every “click” it took for a user to accomplish a task, and did everything possible to optimize and minimize that number. It has failed miserably to keep up with the times, but in a few key ways (no pun intended!) it’s still timeless.

What Palm Does Right

Palm understands moving around a mobile device like nobody else. Almost every task can be accomplished with just a few touches, clicks, or key presses. Brian has already covered the ease of entering appointment/calendar data on in the constantly-saved model of the Palm OS, and I’d add past innovations like photo speed dialing (which seems a natural for the iPhone, and ironically was a Palm innovation for their first Windows Mobile device, and requires a 3rd party add on for Palm’s own OS!). TreoCentral.com no doubt has many more examples. Though perhaps not as practical on an all-touch device, even little things like typing to begin a contact search or call are all time-saving techniques mastered by the Zen of Palm, and a spirit the iPhone could easily learn.

What Apple Could do Better

In addition to being so old its joints creak and crack every time it turns around, the Palm OS lacks the power to deliver a modern user experience, and bizarrely lacks standardization even across its own device platform (besides the aforementioned lack of photo dialing on the Palm side, GSM and CDMA phones have sported different dialing apps, some modernized while others are left to languish in whatever layer of hell 1990 monochrome aliased bitmaps are condemned).

Adding photo dialing to the iPhone would be trivial. All the Quartz and Core Graphics/Animation services are there, just begging for an Apple take.

Likewise improved calendar entry: tapping on an empty slot should bring up a New Event editor the same way tapping on a filled one brings up a viewer. And data should be saved automatically unless specifically cancelled. The mobile world is both more prone to interruptions and less forgiving of them, after all.

The sideways flick currently used to move between photos, Weather app cities, and other information surfaces could be leveraged more widely as well to speed up functionality. Let me flick between album lists while a song is playing, or email folders from one account to the next.

Digging down into, and backing up out of stacked screens is so iPod Classic.

3. Windows Mobile/HTC Speeds, Feeds, and Divergent Needs

As any WMExpert would tell you, Windows Mobile — in Microsoft’s most favoritist model — is not a product but a platform. So, I’m adding in stalwart hardware manufacturer HTC to round out the reference. Before we get too deeply into that, however, it’s worth remembering that the Microsoft model makes for an almost diametrically opposed situation to Apple’s. At the time of this writing, there is only 1 iPhone model, from 1 manufacturer, on 1 US-based carrier. Last count, there were 3.2 gazillion Windows Mobile phones across a plethora of OS variations (standard, smartphone… er… purple?) and innumerable manufacturing SKU’s not only from HTC, but Palm, Motorola, and even Symbian co-founder Sony Ericsson, among others, which run on every carrier and it’s multitude of resellers.

But Apple’s end-to-end control of the device, while giving it an undeniable edge in stability and user experience, comes at the cost of variety and individual configurability.

Back in the dark days of tech support we used to joke that if you were in Mac support, every question had a simple “yes, here’s how…” or “no, sorry” answer, while if you were in Windows support, every question inevitably started with “maybe” and led to hours and hours of digging, tweaking, and testing. And in many ways, the same holds true with the iPhone today: One feature set and a limited range of settings. And in very narrow ways, that leaves room for Apple to learn something from Windows Mobile.

What Windows Mobile Does Right

Again, I’m including HTC in this equation, and from that standpoint, they deserve credit for upping the game with a VGA quality screen and a release schedule that allows them to continuously field the latest and greatest mobile processors.

On the Windows Mobile side proper, the beast is so infinitely tweak-able it might as well be a hobbyist kit. Dig deep enough, and you can find settings for how you’d like your settings, and settings for those settings as well.

What Apple Could Do Better

While my heart remains set on a Nano-esque 202dpi screen (the current iPhone is 160dpi) bringing 720p to the mobile world, I would realistically expect VGA’s 640×480 in the next revision. The iPhone, with the video-out cables, is already capable of pumping 640×480 to your TV, why not to the iPhone screen? And while a yearly, single product release cycle doesn’t give much room for proc bumps, going beefy from the start, and getting the new chips early like Apple does with their laptops and desktops, would keep up the cutting-edge tradition and reputation, and help see devices healthily though their annual life cycles. (This might even be something proprietary chips via the recent PA Semi purchase could help with…)

On the configuration side, while Windows Mobile has ‘em, they’ve also left them pretty much scattered every which where but under under a unified Settings area, which is precisely where the iPhone sorts them. However, though its certainly understandable that Apple is focusing on the casual user, surfacing some lower-level options a la Windows Mobile, organized and implemented with Apple’s fit and finish, would go a long way to appeasing power users who currently turn to jailbreaking in a desperate attempts to get closer to the metal. On the Mac side, there are 3rd party apps that create GUIs for otherwise Terminal-only settings, and while I’m not suggesting (though maybe pipe dreaming a little…) that Apple should provide an official way to get Terminal up on the iPhone, an Advanced button that allowed for more options and deeper tweaking would be a happy medium for many users.

(What, you thought I’d beat the dead horse of cut and paste?)

2. Nokia’s Mobile Video Creation

“I’m streaming live right now, come chat!” is pure Twitter bacon (like spam, but you opted in to it). Many tech pundits, who are also iPhone users, love the Web 2.1 ability to stream video from anywhere and everywhere, whether it’s Robert Scoble shoving a camera in front of economic powerhouses, or the infinitely better looking Cali Lewis demoing Wii fit for the good of the masses, or the first lady of Apple (and self-confessed Jobstalker) iJustine zooming down the highway, live streaming video, especially live streaming mobile video, is the latest IT thing.

Many (most?) of these bleeding edge technojournalists are also Apple fans and devoted iPhone users. So, the fact that they’re all using N95′s to stream their mobile videos shows that Apple could learn something from Nokia.

What Nokia Does Right

Say what you want about Nokia’s Soviet-military design aesthetic and their rather pathetic North American release schedules, they know how to throw a camera at a smart phone. The N95 sports a massive 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens and DVD(ish) caliber video capture. This compares to the rapidly obsoleting 2 megapixel cam on the iPhone, which also fails to enjoy any Apple-provided video capture (which means jailbreaking and loading unsupported third party apps are your only current option).

So, while Apple and the iPhone’s built-in iPod rules the roost when it comes to consuming mobile media, the N95 can’t be touched when it comes to creating that media on the go. This is why all those aforementioned iPhone toting blogerati, when they clog my Twitter feed with their live streaming announcements, are streaming live via the N95.

What Apple Could Do Better

There have been rumors of an upcoming iChat Mobile application, and even video conferencing, and that’s a start. Apple, however, stands alone in 360 degree spherical integration, and while they don’t have as massive a footprint in most of them the way Microsoft might, they at least have a toe in all of them, from hardware, to software, to services, from production, to processing, to deployment, to consumption. You can fire up Final Cut Pro on your iMac, create a movie, upload it to .Mac and sync a copy to your iPhone. Imagine that power harnessed around mobile media creation?

Right now, QIK and Nokia need each other to produce streaming video (while the N95′s battery lasts, that is). Imagine an iPhone with a decent camera and video capture that could stream live via, or send recorded clips to, .Mac gallery. And imagine if Apple took the much-needed step of enabling support for UstreamTV, stickam, Flickr, and YouTube.

Coupled with seamless integration with the Mac, iMovie 08, and higher end apps, and — BOOM — the king of mobile media consumption becomes the king of mobile media creation as well.

Everyone could be a life-caster.

1. Android’s Cloud and Location Based Services

I know. Android is still somewhere between vaporware and the eternal beta tag that hounds so many of Google’s initiatives. How could they be my #1? Here’s the thing: with a few notable exceptions (we’ll get to those in a paragraph or two), they’re batting nearly 1000 on all “cloud services” right now. And the cloud is the future.

What are cloud services? Most of us run applications locally on our computers. We buy software, install it, and use it to save files on our hard drive. Cloud services change that game entirely. They run applications on servers (often huge data centers) that we access via our browser (Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox), or through a dedicated client (iTunes, Sidebar Objects, Dashboard Widgets, etc.). Instead of buying them, we get them for free, sponsored by advertising, or via paid subscription. And instead of saving files locally, we have the option of saving them on the same servers (and data centers) the services themselves run on. We may lose some potential privacy and control, but we gain the advantage of multiple backups scattered over many geographies to preserve our data. If you think this doesn’t sound too different than the old server-client model, or the Sun and Oracle predictions of the network being the computer, you’re right. Just on a far greater scale.

What are location-based services? According to Google, the next gold rush. It’s tying the cloud in to your current location, based on WiFi, and better yet — GPS coordinates.

Apple provides some of these services already, with .Mac mail, iDisk storage, .Mac galleries, Back-to-my-Mac, and Sync, and rumors indicate they may be amping it up with IMAP IDLE-style “push” email and PIM sync, and maybe even a complete revamp with the next release, but they still could learn a lot from Google.

What Google Does Right

Confession: I’m a .Mac subscriber. Yes, it’s buggy and overpriced, but Back-to-my-Mac and the Sync features alone were enough to lure me in. Nevertheless, Google owns this space. They’re predicted to earn more than Microsoft’s Windows + Office monopoly soon, and some say that’s only the beginning. Indeed, the entire raison-d’être for Android is to give away an OS in hopes of getting Google’s services onto more phones and thus, into more hands.

They want you to meet an old friend over one of their Open Social powered networks, use their email to contact the old friend, their search to find a great diner near the both of you, their calendar to schedule a lunch, their Docs suite to get some work done while you’re waiting, their Blogger to write up the event, and their Picasa gallery to store pictures of your reunion. (All with tasteful text and banner ads, tuned per your interests and location, served up along with your results and data)

What’s more, many of their cloud services allow for easy collaboration. You can share your calendar, work on your spreadsheet along with some colleagues logged in back at the office, and publish everything online for the world to see.

And the most important piece — indeed the missing link up until recently — Google Gears allows for offline persistence; you can keep using many of your cloud apps and cloud-stored data even when you don’t have a WiFi or cell connection. If you have to get on a plane to see your old friend, you can keep typing away, and when you land everything will sync back up.

What Apple Could Do Better

Where Google strikes out is integration. Their offerings are a disjointed and sometimes disoriented mishmash of homebrews and buyouts, with nowhere near the cohesive user experience or inter-offering leverage Apple could provide. Until recently, some services didn’t even work under a single login. There are also huge holes in their offerings, like Amazon S3- or Microsoft Skydrive-like storage (yes, you can rig up gDrive, but I’m talking official offerings here).

Apple already has some of these holes filled (iDisk), but are missing many more pieces themselves. There are suggestions Apple doesn’t “get” social networking (or doesn’t want to get it). But an easy to use blogging service built into .Mac and the iPhone would be an excellent start. And given Apple’s existing “Cult of Mac”, a social network tied into that admittedly snobbish demographic would be an easy sell as well. Tie it into the location-based services (opt-in, of course) and suddenly the cloud network takes on physicality as well. Instead of “Steve’s Twittering: Meet up at the Mothership after Keynote”, Steve can see how many of his friends and contacts are already at Keynote, and tying into search, calendar, IM, and other services could make for a very easy workflow to set up the meet.

This brings me back to the integration. The way Contacts flows into the Apple client for Google Maps gives a hint at how it should “just work”. The iPhone Maps app in general shows that Apple can make hybrid client/cloud software better than anyone on the planet. Imagine that leveraged across the device?

Get an email with a spreadsheet, and instead of just a preview, you could launch iWork Online, make your edits, and have them available to all team (or family — Apple’s consumer focus!) members instantly. Still working when you get on that plane? Newer versions of WebKit promise offline modes with database support for just such an eventuality, and WebKit is the foundation of the iPhone’s MobileSafari browser, and much of its data rendering in general).

And once the iPhone scales, and iPhone data starts to get aggregated and leveraged (with firm privacy and security policies!) for the benefit of other iPhone users, watch out. Today’s social networks and sharing proof-of-concepts will looks positively anemic.

Apple (or an Apple/Google alliance even?) could get an immediate edge going into the next great paradigm shift in computer technology.

Conclusion

So there you have them: better Blackberry-style email management, Treo-centric focus on click counting, Windows Mobile-ish configurability, Nokia inspired mobile video production, and Google Android beating cloud services are my top 5 things the iPhone could learn from the competition.

Is Apple already thinking along these lines? We’ll have to wait for WWDC — and likely Macworld 2009 — to know for sure. How about you? If Apple could take 5 things from the competition to improve YOUR iPhone, what would they be?